My mother tongue, poetry, and me...

I am now writing in Iluko.

It’s not much of a feat, really. For one, I still can’t say I’m already good at it. But still, I cannot help but be pleased with myself.

I have always longed for this moment… although at the back of my mind, I’ve always wondered if it would ever come, fearing all the time that it never will.

Thank God it did.

Now, the words come easier to me. It’s no longer like before when I would sit in front of my PC, willing my hands to tap the keyboard, and my mind to dictate the words of my native tongue, wishing Ilocano words to blink on my computer screen. But always, my attempts left me feeling frustrated. I always ended up writing in English.

Yet I still persevered.

Now, there are times when, even before I could set up my lap top, words are already bubbling in my mind, so that by the time I have opened my PC, my fingers are already itching to play with the key board. In fact, during the past weeks, I have created several Iluko poems.

That’s another thing. I am now writing poems. Had I not always said I don’t know how to write a poem? Had I not claimed before that I don’t appreciate poetry? How come I am now attempting to write in this genre?

I don’t know. I just do now… I mean, try. Of course, my outputs aren’t perfect yet. Some may just be quasi. But what the heck. I am teaching myself… I am exploring. I am trying different styles. Who knows, soon I may be able to find my own style. Who knows I may eventually learn to write real ones.

I wish… Or shall I say, I hope?



//One can easily point out that it’s not just now that I am writing poems… that I have pieces written even when I was in elementary. But I don’t know. It’s only now that I’ve come to truly appreciate poetry… and actually attempt to write real ones.