Amater Poem by Jaime Jesus Borlagdan

Dai ka nangad daa magbuntog
sa Amater, sabi kan iba
kun dai man sanang pagkamoot
na kairiba.
Mala malipot,
baka maliptan,
baka magmawot
ki makukupuan.
Pero pano kun dai?
Pano kun gapo
na malumot sana
an kahurohunlakan.
Su gilid kan hagyanan
sana an kakurukairibanan.
Mantang sa linaw kan irarom
kan tubig na nagtatakig,
pinagduwang mga kamada
kan nagpapaimbong na mga unit.

Asi, dai na pagbuntog,
pigtataraman na,
kun daing kairibang
pagkamoot.
Pag inuragan sa karapsaw
kan mga aki,
baka pumaparos-paros
sa bulod kan mga burabod,
baka makursunadahan
kan mga tawong lipod.
Baka bumulasok na sana
sa rusdusan na halas
paghugpa sa tubig
dai na bumutwa.
Hulyo 30 2004. Karangahan.

English:

Never dip
in Amater, according to some
without accompanying love.
Because it's chilly
you might get cold
you might want
something to hold.
But what if there's none?
What if only the mossy stones
are your romp-mates.
The edge of the stairs
your only company.
While in the clear depth
of the shivering water,
piles of twos
of warming skins.

I'm telling you
don't ever think about dipping
if you don't have accompanying love.
When you become annoyed with the horseplay
of the kids
you might want to cool off
in the spring-giving hills
you might be smitten
by the tawong-lipod, the unseen.
You might just plunge
down the serpent slide
and after reaching the water
never to surface again.