Tanaga is a traditional Filipino form of poetry. Each poem is composed of four lines, seven syllables per line, with various end-rhyme patterns. This is an excerpt from a series, titled simply Asa, Dadwa, Tatdu, Apat (One, Two, Three, Four), that uses Ivatan poetic language in the Tanaga form. Originally published in Manoa Journal, December 2024.
Tanaga du Ivatan: Asa
Masalawsaw sicharaw
Malatyat ‘changuriyaw,
Navuya mu u hañit?
Nadngey mu u valichit?
The day is full of wind
As a new dawn arrives,
Have you seen the brightening sky?
Have you heard the valichit sing?
Tanaga du Ivatan: Dadwa
Sumavusavung da na
U dadwa ka bayakbak,
Nu minaydak a chidat
Asa yatus vituhen.
The two bayakbak trees
are flowering:
a lightning bolt flashes,
a hundred bright stars.
Dorian Merina 