You Bring Out The Filipina In Me
Maiana Minahal
you bring out the Filipina in me
the language born of blood in me
the p instead of f in me
the visayan the tagalong in me
the ancestors in me
you bring out
the Magellan in me
the revolution of seven thousand islands in me
the survive 500 years of colonizers in me
you bring out the guerrilla soldier in me
the olongapo bar hostess in me
the mail order bride in me
you bring out the ‘bahala na’ immigrant in me
the god they’re so
the yes, i do speak English in me
the tnt green card in me
you bring out the pinay in me
the sass in me smartass badass in me
the proud walker shit talker
third world girl the majority in me
you bring out the ‘barkada’ in me
wolf among sheep in me
the danger the desire in me
the drink til i’m drunk
fuck til i’m good and fucked
you bring out the queer in me
the duke in me
the brave beautiful butch in me
coracious femme in me
the ‘bastos’ the ‘bakla’
the ‘walang hiya’ in me
you bring out the wake up
laughing laughing
not crying
in
my brother
my brother
‘mahal mahal kita’
yes you do
oh yes you do
R
Angelina Feril
R
You used You abused
You took for granted
And always expected
You requested You implored
You so subtly demanded
(for gas money, cigarettes a free meal or two)
You made everyone feel obligated
(to give and provide everything for you)
And if they didn’t
If they wouldn’t five you what you wanted
Guilt was a good way to go
For when you insisted
It was your way or no way at all
You betrayed You violated
You assumed someone would get your back
And you always resented
When your expectations were not met
You “were hurt” You “were wronged”
You “were persecuted for no reason”
You “were dishonored and victimized”
But truth is not once did you show appreciation
Appreciation for support—
Physical, emotional, and material
Nor the fact that the love and care I
Showed was virtually unconditional
Magellan’s Got Nothin’ on My Lola
Pia Cristina Infante
My
Swings
From
In stories told
From a green lawn chair
My
Wears
Skin soft and dark
A ripe avocado ‘bulaklak’
Plucked from the Bulakan
Where the carabao
Speak only Ilokano
My lola
Smiles
Baptisms of brown
Spilling secrets even lolo never
Knew
Like how to wrap ‘suman’
Smooth
In velvet leaves from banana trees
Or how to run laps
‘round a fast flood of ash
In the race against
My Lola steps
Between lives crosses thousands of
Miles
Swims to Pampanga and back
In two seconds flat
Same trip
Took Magellan
A rough ten years
But you don’t read about
Maria Juanita Francisca del Oro Misael
In the ‘History of the Pacific’
He better blush when he says
My Lola’s name
A Response to the Queer Sister of Color
Pia Cristina Infante
Contrary to what
You may have heard
About Asian women
I am not always nice
Contrary to what
Images may come to mind
About Catholic raised Filipina
Women
I am not necessarily patient or
Forgiving
Contrary to what
You may think you know about
Politically active Filipina dykes
I refuse to further participate
In a minority politics
Which perpetuate
The Myth: American racial
Consciousness in two-
Toned / black and white
If you are another sister of color
/A queer sister of color/
contrary to what you
may expect from a queer Asian-
ambiguous sister
I cannot embrace you
Until YOU
SEE
ME
And that means
It is your job
Not mine
To educate your self out of
Ignorance
So, please
Figure out / before you ask
Me / that
No,
I don’t read Mandarin
And neither does my sister
Maré is a Diva, di ba?
Emily Porcincula Lawsin
We call her “Maré,”
As in “Comadré,”
Our sistahfriend.
Not “SIS-TER,” my friend,
But “sistah-friend,”
Said all-in-one.
She’s the womyn
Who defies us—
U – S –
Of A – stereotyped popularity,
Of a bubblin’, babblin’
B – I – T of a Chiquita
Banana yellow-face white bread
MEN-tality
In totality,
It ain’t no Wonder.
She crushes the violent patronizing of
Miss Saigon-like lyrics and
Flushes them down the toil—
It’s not enough.
So she conquers the street,
Telling wart-nosed cop that
“Under Municipal Code Number 2-6-5-6
we can wage a massive protest”
provided she keeps us on the move.
Maré is a diva.
So instead of walking us in traditional circles,
She sends us in lighting movin’ spirals,
Like tornadoes whipping unshielded storefronts.
She is a diva, di ba?
O-o
Maré is more than a
W – O – M – B – man.
With her saber-like tongue, gleaming brown skin and charcoal eyes,
She burns fire into
The souls of Pinoy folk,
Makin us look back
At womyn ledengs of the P.I:
(NOT including Imelda, the crooked show queen, of course)
so we study Maganda,
meaning “beautiful,”
who was stronger than
the first diva of all divas,
who killed a bird that mocked
at the bamboo of her man.
And Gabriela (Silang)
Of yesterday and today,
A true revolutionary,
The real, live Womyn Warrior,
Before
But Maré is more than a teacher, di ba?
She’s the Mother of all lands
That resist using our bodies
As bases of war.
She is like a book of ages
And time that can’t stand still
She is roaring river
Who don’t need to beg to be heard
She’s the strong waves of HERstory
Of our revelations,
Of our liberation.
Maré is a diva,
Yes.
My Pinay Nanay
Emily Porcincula Lawsin
My mother has many names:
“mama” “Mommy” “
“Tia” “Chang” “Manang” “Lisa” “Isang”
But i just call her: my “Pinay Nanay”
My Pinay Nanay,
She can speak
Ifigao, Ilongo, Ilocano, Waray, Cebuano, Pampangueno,
Spanish, Tagalog,
AND English,
Thanks to the three Pinoy men she married
And the thousands of
My Pinay Nanay,
She can whip up a dozen lumpias—vegetable and Shanghai
Roll it/paste it/fry it/see you joke with it like a cigar
Or boto/penis
And whirl a boomerang bakya/slipper at you
AllInOneBreath.
My Pinay Nanay,
She can cook a feast for seven in as many minutes.
Spread the table with
Fresh mongo beans/seafood/pinakbet/chicken/beef/pork/adobo
Plus towkwa/tofu/chicharon sizzling on the side/lasagna trays of pancit noodles:
Bihon/Canton/
Lug-lug/AND Malabon/vats of tomato-pasty menudo/machado/
Peanut kate-kare/dinuguan (chocolate meat—ha ha!)/
AND for desert: platters of steamed puto/suman/cutsinta cakes/baked bibinka/biko/deepfriend cascarron/donut holes/
Bowls of sweet ginataan
With ping-pong-sized-bilo-bilo dumplims
JustLikeYouLikeThem/and STILL ask you,
“Are you hungry? You better eat!”
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