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Sa Aking Henerasyon: Mga Tula at Saling-Tula
390 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2022
3 people are currently reading
28 people want to read
About the author
Kerima Lorena Tariman
3 books8 followersKerima Lorena Tariman: She knew ‘the value of people, land, poetry’
To her comrades, associates, friends, and relatives, Tariman, 42, was committed in everything she did as a mother, journalist, artist, and poet.
‘Finest poet’
Poet Vim Nadera said of Tariman: “Kerima knows the value of people, of the land, and of poetry. As a poet, she also understands the merit of conflict. She sought to make her actions more valuable than words.”
Journalist Len Olea described Tariman as the “finest poet of our generation,” and journalist and filmmaker Ilang-ilang Quijano, paying tribute to Tariman, has done a translation of a poem she wrote, “Salaysay at Kasaysayan” (Narrative and History) from her last published book in 2017, “Pag-aaral sa Oras: Mga Lumang Tula Tungkol sa Bago” (Reflections on Time: Old Poems about the New).
In a farewell poem-tribute to his daughter, Pablo Tariman recalled how Kerima “took to poetry/the way swans took to water.”
To close friends, “Kelot,” as they called her, was the regular “chill” girl who played the guitar and laughed at jokes.
On graduating salutatorian from the Philippine High School for the Arts, “She went up the stage barefoot—lapat sa lupa,” recalled professor Rommel Rodriguez of the University of the Philippines (UP).
Rodriguez also remembered Tariman as identifying herself with the “Joey” character in the 1982 film “Moral,” the flirt who awakens to activism as portrayed by Lorna Tolentino.
Like Joey, “she too was quiet but brave,” Rodriguez said. “They were also both very beautiful.”
Community work
Yet there was no denying the depth of her personality in everything she endeavored, from poetry to her political work. Rodriguez said she was a woman of few words, “but her thoughts and writings said a lot more.”
Tariman entered UP in 1996 as a journalism student but later shifted to Philippine Studies. She left the university four years later to become involved in community work.
Friends were not surprised by Tariman’s joining the armed struggle, Rodriguez said.
Tariman had already experienced harassment by the military because of her politics. In 2000, when she was managing editor of the Philippine Collegian, she was arrested and detained while in Isabela province to research about the peasant communities there.
“I was only hoping to gain a better understanding of the peasant situation in that area,” she said in a 2012 interview with fellow activist Sarah Raymundo. “But the whole experience, from living with the peasants to my arrest and detention, is an indispensable lesson on the reality of class struggle.”
When her husband, artist and activist Ericson Acosta, was detained in 2011, she led a campaign that culminated in his release two years later.
To her comrades, associates, friends, and relatives, Tariman, 42, was committed in everything she did as a mother, journalist, artist, and poet.
‘Finest poet’
Poet Vim Nadera said of Tariman: “Kerima knows the value of people, of the land, and of poetry. As a poet, she also understands the merit of conflict. She sought to make her actions more valuable than words.”
Journalist Len Olea described Tariman as the “finest poet of our generation,” and journalist and filmmaker Ilang-ilang Quijano, paying tribute to Tariman, has done a translation of a poem she wrote, “Salaysay at Kasaysayan” (Narrative and History) from her last published book in 2017, “Pag-aaral sa Oras: Mga Lumang Tula Tungkol sa Bago” (Reflections on Time: Old Poems about the New).
In a farewell poem-tribute to his daughter, Pablo Tariman recalled how Kerima “took to poetry/the way swans took to water.”
To close friends, “Kelot,” as they called her, was the regular “chill” girl who played the guitar and laughed at jokes.
On graduating salutatorian from the Philippine High School for the Arts, “She went up the stage barefoot—lapat sa lupa,” recalled professor Rommel Rodriguez of the University of the Philippines (UP).
Rodriguez also remembered Tariman as identifying herself with the “Joey” character in the 1982 film “Moral,” the flirt who awakens to activism as portrayed by Lorna Tolentino.
Like Joey, “she too was quiet but brave,” Rodriguez said. “They were also both very beautiful.”
Community work
Yet there was no denying the depth of her personality in everything she endeavored, from poetry to her political work. Rodriguez said she was a woman of few words, “but her thoughts and writings said a lot more.”
Tariman entered UP in 1996 as a journalism student but later shifted to Philippine Studies. She left the university four years later to become involved in community work.
Friends were not surprised by Tariman’s joining the armed struggle, Rodriguez said.
Tariman had already experienced harassment by the military because of her politics. In 2000, when she was managing editor of the Philippine Collegian, she was arrested and detained while in Isabela province to research about the peasant communities there.
“I was only hoping to gain a better understanding of the peasant situation in that area,” she said in a 2012 interview with fellow activist Sarah Raymundo. “But the whole experience, from living with the peasants to my arrest and detention, is an indispensable lesson on the reality of class struggle.”
When her husband, artist and activist Ericson Acosta, was detained in 2011, she led a campaign that culminated in his release two years later.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
August 6, 2025
Minsan dumadapo sa aking isipan ito: nasa mga kamay ko, sa koleksyon na ito, ang kabuuan ni Tariman bilang makata. Ang kaniyang katauhan bilang manunulat. Sa pamamagitan ng librong ito, sumisisid tayo sa utak at puso ni Tariman: kung paano niya natatanaw ang kinabukasan, kung paano niya nahahanap ang kamangha-mangha sa makamundo, kung paano niya tinutunggali ang malawak na pang-aapi, at, pinakamahalaga, kung paano niya isinasalin sa pamamagitan ng matalinghaga at mabulaklak na panunula ang mga teorya, praktika, danas, luha, at diwa ng rebolusyon.
Ngunit, sa kabila ng gayong pagsisisid, hindi pa rin ako kampanteng sabihin na kilala ko na si Tariman. Ang kilala ko lamang ay ang kaniyang mga metapora, hindi ang kaniyang kaibuturan. Ngunit, sa tingin ko, lumilitaw o kaya nama'y sinasalamin mismo ng kaniyang mga tula ang kaniyang kaibuturan. Kung kaya't bagaman hindi ko siya nakilala, alam kong siya'y mapagmahal. Alam kong siya'y mapagmalasakit. Alam kong siya'y matatag at matalino. Alam kong siya'y 'di-mapirmi, maligalig, mapaglaro, mabiro, mausisa, at mabusisi. Alam kong siya'y malapit sa masa. Alam kong siya'y alagad ng sining. Alam kong siya ang ehemplo ng gerilyang makata sa tula ni Sison. Lahat ng ito ay mahuhuniha mo lamang sa kaniyang mga tula.
Pinakamataas na pagpupugay sa'yo, Ka Ella! Mabuhay ka!
Mula sa Ulan, Gitara, Eman II:
"ang mga kwerdas ng gitara
na tumugtog ng mga kanta
ng mga lumulubog sa putikan
at ng mga lumalaban sa ulan
ay mga kwerdas ng gitara
na aawit ng kalayaan."
Ngunit, sa kabila ng gayong pagsisisid, hindi pa rin ako kampanteng sabihin na kilala ko na si Tariman. Ang kilala ko lamang ay ang kaniyang mga metapora, hindi ang kaniyang kaibuturan. Ngunit, sa tingin ko, lumilitaw o kaya nama'y sinasalamin mismo ng kaniyang mga tula ang kaniyang kaibuturan. Kung kaya't bagaman hindi ko siya nakilala, alam kong siya'y mapagmahal. Alam kong siya'y mapagmalasakit. Alam kong siya'y matatag at matalino. Alam kong siya'y 'di-mapirmi, maligalig, mapaglaro, mabiro, mausisa, at mabusisi. Alam kong siya'y malapit sa masa. Alam kong siya'y alagad ng sining. Alam kong siya ang ehemplo ng gerilyang makata sa tula ni Sison. Lahat ng ito ay mahuhuniha mo lamang sa kaniyang mga tula.
Pinakamataas na pagpupugay sa'yo, Ka Ella! Mabuhay ka!
Mula sa Ulan, Gitara, Eman II:
"ang mga kwerdas ng gitara
na tumugtog ng mga kanta
ng mga lumulubog sa putikan
at ng mga lumalaban sa ulan
ay mga kwerdas ng gitara
na aawit ng kalayaan."
Displaying 1 of 1 review