The first Pinoypoets Poetry Chapbook,[Öb•Vêrs] Obras in Verses, was successfully launched with the participation of the group's active members last April 2 at Gayuma Café in Katipunan.
Aptly titled Obverse [ÖboVêrs], (the front of an object, (n.) the side, as of a coin, that bears the principal design), this collection contains the poems of writers who are now ready to offer their verses and their voices to the literary world and to willing readers. The statements in the chapbook preface are strong ones:, "It is Pinoypoets,[adj] facing the observer, baring themselves, spilling their innards through their words. It is their invitation to travel in their world, to experience a fragment of their lives, to free the mind and drown in their metaphors and to let lines remain in the heart. It is their works of poetry, their obras in verses, bravely and proudly offered to the world. To be criticized. Even to be laughed at. But at the end of the day, and essentially the most important, to be read. To be shared."
The chapbook boasts of the members' finest poems, best works from June 2004 to January 2005 with diverse themes and fresh images and metaphors on;
Erotica
…You could not blame me
If I chose
To burn my tongue
Just to taste
Your wonder.
from "My Geography Lessons" by Rhodge Fernandez
Unrequited love
I came and you were surprised with my distance
Words unuttered clattered like broken disk in my head
from "I, Woman, Lover" by Gracia Perdiguerra
Unexpressed feelings
Ngunit wala akong maisulat -
O marahil, ayokong isulat,
Dahil ang pagsulat ay pag-amin,
Pagkumpisal ng tagong damdamin
from "Tinatagong Tula", by Rhea Claire Madarang
Intense romanticism
Kagabi, natuklap ang talukap ng lupa
Nang mamulaklak ng malamig na bulak,
Ang bukal ng ulap,
Ngunit di natin iyon namalayan,
from "Kagabi", by Kristoffer Berse
Alienation
The click of stiletto heels
Tap out an arrhythmic dance
on swirling tiles, on massaged concrete,
while above, the city's evening lights
glare out their garish promise,
dreams of the uncaring gods they worship,
from "…4" by The Weepingman
Parental neglect
Maghapon, magdamag mong
Binabalasa
Mga barahang hindi
Marunong bumasa
Ng 'yong bukas
Kaulayaw mo'y usok
Mangkok
Ng ulam mong
Punong puno ng sabaw
Coke, pamatid uhaw,
from "Kwaho" by Edwin Padillo
Life in grayscales
Maybe the placards and the
workers shouts
had all blended into
one pale oblivion.
They were all
talking about you
in the same dim shade
of scattered ashes
in which you wrote
everyday,
in which you lived
a half-starved life
trying to see beyond
the big gray blur
in the center of your
bathroom mirror.
from "Grayscale" by Maureen Gaddi Dela Cruz
Paean to Mother Nature
Kung tumaga man ang kidlat
Saglit lamang ang aking pagkatakot
Dahil may apoy itong handog
Sa mga talahib, sanga at dahon
Init na dulot sa humahaplit na bagyo."
From "Pagpupugay" John Enrico Torralba
Dipper shower
Ayaw pakawalan ng titig
ang kamay na marahang
bumaba
tangan ang tabong pula
sumalok ng tubig
sa malalim na timba.
From "Unang Buhos" by Kathline Ann Tolosa
and other profound musings on human emotions and conditions These poems underwent online workshop among members and were reviewed by some of the group's advisers and established poet friends including Zaldy Dandan, Sonny Villafania, Noel del Prado, Angelo Suarez, Sid Gomez Hildawa, Edgar Samar and John Enrico Torralba, who incidentally was present during the ceremony and delivered a salutary and inspiring message. He told the group that there are only two kinds of poems - the abandoned and the unfinished - and he fervently hopes that the group will continue to be an unfinished poem that will continually seek its fulfillment among the lives and hearts of the Pinoypoets.
During the launch, members also held fun fundraising activities, music jams, and performance poetry readings exuding hearts and pens ablaze with poetry.
The Pinoypoets, at first, was a strictly online poetry group started by less than ten members in June last year. After a few months of sharing their works, giving feedback and exchanging their views online, these budding poets and literary enthusiasts began to meet regularly and develop kinship in sharing their insights, views, knowledge and constructive criticism. The group presently holds their poetry workshops, poetry readings and other activities in various locations within Metro Manila.
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