Antipolo is still in Antipolo (and four other poems)

Original by Abner Dormiendo
Translated, from the Tagalog, by Ethan Chua

Antipolo is still in Antipolo

In Antipolo I started my studies

In Antipolo, maybe we’ll live together 

In Antipolo, they’ve put up many resorts

I still go home to Antipolo

–

Sa Antipolo pa rin ang Antipolo

 

Sa Antipolo Ako Unang Nag-aral

Sa Antipolo Siguro Tayo Titira Nang Magkasama

 

Sa Antipolo Maraming Nakatayong Resort

Sa Antipolo pa rin Ako Umuuwi

–

Abner Dormiendo is a writer and a teacher from the Philippines who graduated with a degree in philosophy in Ateneo de Manila University. He received the Don Carlos Palanca Awards for Literature last 2015 for his poetry in Filipino. His other works, both in English and Filipino, appeared in High Chair, Plural Prose Journal, and Heights Ateneo, among others.

Ethan Chua is a Chinese-Filipino spoken word poet and scholar-activist. His work has been nominated for a Pushcart prize and published in The Journal, Strange Horizons and Hobart. His graphic novel, Doorkeeper, is available in Philippine bookstores. He is happily part of the Stanford Spoken Word Collective.