Nu Nunuk du Tukon
AS SUNG BY LAJI SINGERS MELECIO ALASCO, ROSITA ALAVADO
Nu nunuk du tukon, minuhung as kadisi na,
ichapungpung diya am yaken u ñilawngan na.
Kapaytalamaran ava su avang di idaúd,
ta miyan du inayebngan na, ta miyan du inayebngan na.
Nu itañis ko am nu didiwen ko
ta nu taaw aya u suminbang diyaken,
nu maliliyak a pahung as maheheyet a riyes
u minahey niya, u minahey niya diyaken.
The Nunuk on the Hill
The nunuk tree on the hill grew tender leaves and shoots,
then suddenly its crown was broken and I was caught beneath.
Now I can no longer watch the boat in the deep sea
for I stand on the side that is hidden, on the side that is hidden.
I weep in my sorrow
for the vast ocean has made me an orphan,
the pounding sea breakers, the strong currents,
they told me of my fate, they told me this.
U Anak Nu Munamun
AS SUNG BY LAJI SINGER FILOMENA HUBALDE
Anu kadawudawung ku du tukun di Valungut
Dawri a dinungasungay u anak nu munamun,
Ahapen ku na siya nu masen a sahakeb,
Dahuran ku na siya du mahungtub a duyuy,
Udiyan ku na niya a payrakurakuhen
A di chu’a pavulsayi su madahmet a chirin
Du kahawahawa ku niya u kaichay nu anak nu munamun.
The Child of the Munamun
Each time I look down from the hill at Valungut
I see the child of the munamun swimming in the waves,
I will gather her in my finest net
and place her in the deep coconut shell,
to take her home and care for her as she grows.
I will not utter a single harsh word
and take great care not to hurt the feelings
of the child of the munamun.
Laji is the traditional oral poetry of the Ivatan people of Batanes. These poems are new translations into English of the traditional poetry, as sung by the elder singers, who deserve full credit for being the original culture-bearers of this indigenous art form. Both of these lajis were sung in my presence as I recorded the singers and spoke with them about their craft. They generously granted me permission to share their lajis with the broader public. These were first published in Manoa Journal (December 2024). Please visit our ongoing community-based project on documenting and preserving laji at ivatanlaji.com.
Tanaga du Ivatan (Asa, Dadwa, Tatdu, Apat)
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.
Daybreak
Stepping into the smoke
that climbs the mountainside
carrying in its jaws the memory of fire
we vanish
stars flicker where
the sky’s blue dome
catches the smoldering mast
then emerge cloaked in silver ash
the sun’s rays lancing our throats into beads of flame
as we chant the world
into daybreak and dreams.
We found signs in the entrails of wild boars
as our holy women read the slaughter
that darkened the tips of their fingers red
and manacled their wrists in scripture
we chose to live even though
we knew enough of what was to come
or at least what we would become
in order to witness their arrival.
Let me tell you how it begins—
our children run from the shoreline
chased by the last trace of starlight in the sky
my daughter turns to me
cupping a spear of moonlight in her small palm
samurang
our footsteps pursued by echoes
as we leave the shallow mouths of coral
empty in our wake.
From yndio arxipelago (UP Press, 2025); art by Jay Pee Portez, from “Harvest”
New Book of Poetry: yndio arxipelago
“A wondrous, fierce braiding of history, authority, and rebellious art. Merina’s poetic voice summons a necessary dignity for oppressed peoples of the past, bringing this balm of a book to our haunted present.”
—Laurel Flores Fantauzzo, author of The First Impulse
Out now from the University of the Philippines Press!
“In this luminous collection of poems, Dorian Merina invites us to sift through the colonial archives to discover who we were before conquest. With each line, he draws us into a journey not toward certainty but toward the unsettling truths buried in silence and omission.”
—SHEILA S. CORONEL, co-founder of the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism
“yndio arxipelago is a dazzling provocation drawing readers into the intimacies of the first colonial encounters between the Philippines and an emerging Spanish-speaking world…[Merina’s] verses, crisp and riveting, allow us to listen in to historical conversations, experience a scriptworld shifting from the baybayin to Castilian, and share in the internal struggles of a people on the brink of a cultural upheaval.”
—MARLON JAMES SALES, Associate Professor of Spanish, University of the Philippines and Secretary of The Society for Early Transpacific Studies
View and purchase the book via UP Press.
CREDIT: The header image on this page is from the beautiful artwork of José Honorato Lozano, one of his mid-19th Century paintings depicting Ivatan fishermen.
Dorian Merina 