deepundergroundpoetry.com
Tanaga 1
Banyar my Burman with cat
How much you got ba 8 kyat?
Streets of Yangon they do bled
Banyar teeth and mouth to red
---
Finally, my first poem with rhyme and meter, thanks to the challenge/inspiration from malin's poems.
What is the Tanaga?
"Poesia muy alta en tagalo, compuesta de siete silabas, y cuatro versos, llena de metafora."
"There is high poetry in Tagalog, composed of seven syllables and four verses with frequent metaphors."
From Vocabulario de la lengua tagala, trabaxado por varios sugetos doctos y graves. Manila: Imprenta de la Compana de Jesus, 1754.
The tanaga employs rhyme, meter and metaphor to create a puzzle or riddle that calls for an answer.
Photo: That's Banyar and the cat Phuke. I took this photo 10 years ago.
How much you got ba 8 kyat?
Streets of Yangon they do bled
Banyar teeth and mouth to red
---
Finally, my first poem with rhyme and meter, thanks to the challenge/inspiration from malin's poems.
What is the Tanaga?
"Poesia muy alta en tagalo, compuesta de siete silabas, y cuatro versos, llena de metafora."
"There is high poetry in Tagalog, composed of seven syllables and four verses with frequent metaphors."
From Vocabulario de la lengua tagala, trabaxado por varios sugetos doctos y graves. Manila: Imprenta de la Compana de Jesus, 1754.
The tanaga employs rhyme, meter and metaphor to create a puzzle or riddle that calls for an answer.
Photo: That's Banyar and the cat Phuke. I took this photo 10 years ago.
Published 19th Jan 2014
| Edited 21st Jan 2014
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19th Jan 2014 6:26am
your poem is intriguing. it's always good to discover poetry of other cultures...
19th Jan 2014 7:03am
Thanks, John. I felt compelled to write an extensive explanation but resisted and felt compelled again - more for myself than for readers, as I learn to write in this poetic form from my own culture.
"Burman" refers to a person from Burma, but I have heard this term used to refer to people from the city of Rangoon. This distinguishes them city folks from the other ethnic groups in Burma such as the Karens, Shan, Kachin etc.
"ba" is a Tagalog 'helping word' used when asking a question. it is distinctive to the language and cannot be translated in English.
"8" is a very symbolic number in Burma, often referring to the August 8, 1988 (or 8888) uprising - when the streets of Yangon (Rangoon) flooded with blood.
I cannot remember anymore how much a single pack of betel nut for chewing cost then, but I gave myself some freedom to say it was 8 kyats ("kyat" is Burmese currency).
And so - it was just the betel nuts that made Banyar's mouth and teeth red, and thus the streets when people spat out the red juice ...
"Burman" refers to a person from Burma, but I have heard this term used to refer to people from the city of Rangoon. This distinguishes them city folks from the other ethnic groups in Burma such as the Karens, Shan, Kachin etc.
"ba" is a Tagalog 'helping word' used when asking a question. it is distinctive to the language and cannot be translated in English.
"8" is a very symbolic number in Burma, often referring to the August 8, 1988 (or 8888) uprising - when the streets of Yangon (Rangoon) flooded with blood.
I cannot remember anymore how much a single pack of betel nut for chewing cost then, but I gave myself some freedom to say it was 8 kyats ("kyat" is Burmese currency).
And so - it was just the betel nuts that made Banyar's mouth and teeth red, and thus the streets when people spat out the red juice ...
Anonymous
19th Jan 2014 6:50am
Interesting combination of languages, which has worked out well.
19th Jan 2014 7:06am
Thanks, Nadia. In Southeast Asia, English has become our common (pidgin) language, after colonisation. So when I talk to my friends from Burma, I talk quite like this ... :)
19th Jan 2014 8:57am
Congratulation, absinthe, for your poem, very nice and as I like to do, mixed poem with your language is very beautiful! I am proud to have challenged you, when I read the result!!!
19th Jan 2014 9:00am
Aha!!! Thank you, malin!! You know I tried hard to write it this morning. Ahaha. :) I changed the last two lines maybe 3 times. Need to count and rhyme! :D
19th Jan 2014 10:53am
It seems that you hid yourself as an author and the poem was created by the people or community.
4 beautiful lines, Absinthe.
4 beautiful lines, Absinthe.
19th Jan 2014 11:04am
