NEIL
LEADBEATER Reviews
Marawi by Albert E. Alejo & Eileen R. Tabios,
with translations by Aileen Cassinetto
(Mi-Go
Zine Issue 2 Paloma Press, 2017)
Albert
E. Alejo is a Filipino Jesuit priest who worked with trade unions and informal
labour groups in Manila before earning a doctorate degree in Anthropology at
the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. A published
poet and philosopher in his native Tagalog language, he is now based in
Mindanao where he engages in advocacy for indigenous peoples’ rights and in
dialogue with Muslim civil society. He teaches graduate courses in
anthropology, philosophy and development studies at the Anteneo de Davao
University.
Based
in California, Eileen Tabios has released over 50 collections of poetry,
fiction and essays, and experimental biographies in eight countries and
cyberspace. She has also edited, co-edited or conceptualized 13 anthologies of
poetry, fiction and essays as well as served as editor or guest editor for
various literary journals.
An
extract from a Wikipedia entry on the topography of Marawi offers us with an
idyllic portrait of Lake Lanao and hills that surround Marawi, officially known
as the Islamic City of Marawi, being the largest Muslim city on the southern
island of Mindanao in the Philippines. The book cover is equally idyllic—a blue-coloured
boat tied up at the shoreline hinting at journeys to come.
In
stark contrast, the catalyst for this pamphlet of poems, one each by Tabios and
Alejo, a bilingual edition in Filipino and English with translations by Aileen
Cassinetto, was the Marawi siege—a five-month armed conflict which started on
23 May 2017 between Philippine government security forces and militants
affiliated with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) which became
the longest urban battle in the modern history of the Philippines. In the early
days of the siege, residents were advised to stay locked in their homes until
troops arrived but as the fighting continued many fled for their lives. About
300,000 people were forced to evacuate their homes and stay in temporary
shelters outside the city. A quote from ChannelNewsAsia heads up Tabios’
contribution.
Whenever
there is news of war or of extreme weather events I not only think about the
cost to human life but I also feel for all living things. I often wonder what
happens, for example, to domestic and farm animals who are caught up in such
situations. Aside from the news of human
casualties, we are never told anything about them. As innocent victims, their
injuries, sufferings and deaths, go wholly unreported. Tabios addresses this in
her poem “Marawi’s Pets.”
In
her poem, the threefold repetition of the word somehow which appears at
different points throughout the text lends a sense of dignity while at the same
time expressing a sense of puzzled disillusionment. In English, the repeated
use of the plosives b and p as in behind, bowls, beckons,
buzzing, bear, bombarded and petted, poster, proclaim, puppy, pock-marking,
etc., provide the soundtrack to the violence that has taken place during
the siege.
Tabios
chooses to highlight the crisis by the use of contrast:
signs recall lives
now evaporated—
One poster proclaims
“Congratulations,
Graduate!” Another
sign beckons for
health examinations
Yet another indicates
a school road crossing—
Here
we have a snapshot of academic advancement, good health and a safe society;
everything that adds up to security which is just what the abandoned animals
are looking for now. The security of the daily routine has been destroyed.
There is a torn road, there are torn pages, calendars have been ripped from the
walls. Rupture is at the core of this poem.
Alejo
provides us with a very different contribution. Despite the difference in tone,
it is surprising how, by changing a single letter in a word, we can bring these
two poems so close to each other. I am thinking here about the words RUPTURE
and RAPTURE for rapture is at the core of this poem. In “A Hand’s Breadth Journey,”
the topography of Mindanao that he sees in his own hand is to a certain degree
mirrored in the palm of a lover’s hand. Alejo’s love for his country is
expressed in terms of his longing to be with a loved one but moments are never
still for long enough and meetings have to take place in secret. The
topography, expressed in terms of ravines and brooks against a backdrop of clouds
and the changing seasons all point to nature in a state of constant flux
because nothing can remain the same forever.
Rapture
is about extreme delight, it seizes us like the clasp of a hand, it carries us
out of this world, it transports us somewhere else. It is not surprising that
the word Journey in the title should be complemented by the word trip
at the end. A handbreadth is by definition the length of the hand from the
wrist to the fingertip, a space of about 7.5 or 10 centimeters. Alejo offers us
a poem in miniature. Like Tabios, he is concerned about the safety and
safekeeping of his homeland.
*****
Neil
Leadbeater is an author, editor,
essayist, poet and critic living in Edinburgh, Scotland. His short stories,
articles and poems have been published widely in anthologies and journals both
at home and abroad. His books include Hoarding
Conkers at Hailes Abbey (Littoral Press, 2010); Librettos for the Black Madonna (White Adder Press, 2011); The Worcester Fragments (Original Plus,
2013); The Loveliest Vein of Our Lives (Poetry
Space, 2014); and Finding the River Horse
(Littoral Press, 2017). His work has been translated into Dutch, Romanian,
Spanish and Swedish.
