Batasan ng Lansangan — Street Parliament
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By Arthur Altarejos
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Batasan ng Lansangan
Naririnig ko na sila bago pa ako lumiko
Hinahati ang hangin, kutsilyo’y kanta
At katok ng tibok ng tambol na ginugunita
Ang tunog ng sumasayaw na kawayan
Dito sa puso ng imperyo
Kalahating mundo ang pagitan
kami’y nagtatagpo’t nakikiramay
Para magbukas ng korte at ipatunay
Na ang distansya ay hindi nagbubunga ng apatya
Hindi rin nito tinatastas ang tela ng pagalala
Na bawat kawalan ay dahilan din ng aming kalungkutan
At bawat kaapihan ay amin ding hahatulan
Na may pananalig kasing sigla ng araw
At tapang ng isang bala na pinalaya
Kami’y patuloy na umaawit
Sa ilalim ng isang radyaktibong kalangitan
Na binubunyag ang bawat butil ng galit
Ng bawat kasapi na gumawa ng paraan
Magkongreso
Bilang isang bayan
Sa dayuhang lupang ito
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Street Parliament
I hear them before I even turn the corner
Carving the dull air with song
And drum beats that remind me
Of the sound of dancing bamboo
In this city at the heart of empire
Half a world away
We come to hold court and prove
That distance does not beget apathy
Nor does it strain the fabric of memory
That each loss is also ours to mourn
And each slight ours too to condemn
With the conviction of daylight
And the confidence of a bullet
We sing our songs
Beneath a radioactive sky
Reflecting every bit of rage
Of every little life
We have managed to congress
Into a nation
On this foreign soil
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Arthur Altarejos is a Filipino community organizer, community worker, and health educator based in New York City. He writes about the things lost and gained in translation between Hiligaynon, Tagalog, and English, the languages of his home. His writing has appeared or will soon appear in Sky Island Journal and Blue Daisies Journal.
Image credit: “Drumming and Day-Dreaming” by Wayne S. Grazio via a Creative Commons license.
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