The dead and the living dead

By Virginia Jasmin Pasalo

 

“INATEY su angabil!” was an expression I heard from my father all the time. I never asked for an explanation, it seemed to me at that time self-explanatory, and since he laughed after saying so, I thought it must be something humorous, and I used to laugh, not in total understanding, but in the hilarity of the way he said it.

My understanding of this saying is that the one who meant harm, is the one who was dead. It is true, because anyone who wants to harm another would eventually be harmed. It is a karmic law. However, those who want to harm at some point have felt pain, and they want to get even, so they also harm others. If at one point they have felt pain, there is a chance of healing, there is a window of deliverance, a possibility to reverse the death sentence that eventually awaits them. I have sympathy for these people because behind the anger, there is really a desire to live, to feel alive.

To be vulnerable, to feel, to have passion, to be aware, are signs of being alive. Get engaged! The medical vital signs are not nearly as accurate as these signs, to indicate a person engaged fully in life. Some live to live the life others want for them. Some do not know how to love others, some do not know how to love themselves. A friend of mine, on his deathbed said to me, “Wow, was that it?” I didn’t know what to tell him, it really depended on the way he lived his life. My advice, live, fall in love, kiss, get angry, get jealous, punch your two-timing lover, throw your unwashed panties to his face, whatever. Just don’t sit on your ass. Flush the shit in the sewer. Or, take the shit and grow tomatoes.

Inatey

dakel su inatey ed sikatayo

walay tuan inatey

tan mabilay ya inatey

 

aramay tuan inatey

gabay da nin syensyaý

unliber-liber

 

aramay mabilay ya inatey

agda anta ya mabilay ira

tan agda nanengneng

a walay kaabay dan

inatey ya tua

 

Dead

so many dead among us

there is the truly dead

and the living dead

 

the truly dead

still want to stay

to roam around

 

the living dead

don’t know they are alive

and cannot see the truly dead

beside them

 

Natay

nagadu nga natay kaniatayo

dagidiay agpayso nga natay

ken dagidiay nabiag

ngem natay met laeng

 

Dagidiay agpayso nga natay

kayat da laeng ti agbati

nga aglikmot-likmot

 

dagidiay nabiag nga natay

dida ammo nga nabiag da

ken saan da nga makita

nga adda kaabay da

nga natayen

 

Patay

maraming patay sa ating tabi

may tunay na patay

at may patay na buhay

 

yung tunay na patay

gusto nilang

manatili muna sa tabi-tabi

 

yung patay na buhay

di nila alam na buhay sila

at may patay na katabi

(For your comments and reactions, please email to: punch.sunday@gmail.com)

 

 

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