Buhayin ang Tanaga!

Wednesday, November 29, 2006

Regaining a lost heritage

For months now, this website has not been updated. I have not had enough contributions coming in. Recently however, an email from a Filipino trying to connect, and perhaps reclaim a lost heritage encouraged me to post one. Here's her piece:

Better to have loved and lost?
Dare to dream, at any cost?
Though hearts and spirits exhaust,
better to have loved and lost.

- Natalie

I'll leave it unannotated to allow the full breadth of her meaning come out since it's a very lovely short tanaga that could easily lift one's heart.
posted by Jardine Davies @ 3:46 AM

2 Comments:

hi! i was just looking online for examples of tanaga and found your site. i'm from toronto and i'm part of a philippine arts and culture centre here called kapisanan (kapisanancentre.com). we're about to have a poetry show on oct. 3 for the victims of typhoon ondoy, and the tanaga and the balagtasan are very much alive up here!

please visit our site (we're also on facebook) and connect with us! i love your blog!

christine balmes
Blogger Unknown, at 7:42 PM  
btw, there's a tanaga that we are currently writing (there are about 10 of us filipino poets) on the theme of water. here's what i and another person have written so far.

Purify me or drown me
Your powers flow within me
Your currents move destinies
Without you, the world would cease
-ji-an manalo

I am but a fish unknown,
Learning of The Water's flow:
Teacher and a student both,
Lover and beloved both.
-christine balmes
Blogger Unknown, at 7:44 PM  

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