Love woman: Poems

by Ophelia A. Dimalanta

"With each new book, Ophelia A. Dimalanta confirms her premier position in Philippine poetry, and undeniably increases her following. I, for one, have witnessed how she shaped and reshaped mundane and secular realities into poetic excellences for her readers' delectation in her previous books. In Love Woman, she has turned social and historical texts into a system of cohesive and pleasurable utterances, re-writing them in terms conducive to reflection and enlightenment. The book makes us glad to be part of her consciousness. Also, it restores our faith in the benevolence of words."

- Cirilo F. Bautista

Genres: Poetry

106 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1998

About the author

Ophelia Alcantara Dimalanta was a Filipino poet, editor, author, and academician. Dimalanta published several books of poetry, criticism, drama, and prose and edited various literary anthologies. In 1999, she received Southeast Asia’s highest literary honor, the S.E.A. Write Award.

Reviews

[K.D. Absolutely · Rating 3 out of 5]

#BuwanNgMgaAkdangPinoy
Aklat #27: LOVE WOMAN: POEMS by Ophelia Alcantara Dimalanta
(The University of Santo Tomas Publishing House, 1998)

Ophelia Alcantara Dimalanta (1932-2010) was one of the Philippines' major poets in English. Also a critic and teacher, she was a founding member of the Manila Critics Circle, which gives out the annual National Book Awards, and was a Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Letters and Professor of Literature of the Graduate School of the University of Santo Tomas, where she played mentor to some of today's foremost writers and journalists such as National Artists for Literature Cirilo Bautista, Recah Trinidad, Arnold Azurin, Albert B. Casuga, Cristina Pantoja-Hidalgo, Eric Gamalinda, Jose Neil Garcia, Mike Coroza, and Lourd de Veyra.

In fact, it was Bebang Siy who recommended this book to me. When she saw me holding this book during the Academic Book Fair at SM Megatrade Hall, she said, "Maganda yan." Although it took me a few years before finally cracking this open, it was all worth the wait. This is one of the best poetry books that I've laid my eyes on. It was a quick albeit an enjoyable read. On its first page are the blurbs from well-respected authors like Gemine H. Abad, Cristina Pantoja-Hidalgo, Marjorie Evasco and Josephine Acosta Pasricha. Their most common description of the book, or of the poet herself, is that of being feminist. I am not sure if I missed those poems or if their blurbs made me expect too much but I thought that feminism is not the unifying theme of the book. Rather, it is love itself. Not the kind of mushy love that the generation of today almost always equates to hugot but the kind of love that is selfless like the love for our country. The poet beautifully captured this kind of love in the second to the last part of the book where she became the bystander describing through her beautiful poetry the pivotal parts of the lives of prominent Filipino women in our history such as Teodora Alonzo, Josephine Bracken, Patrocinio Gamboa y Villareal, Tandang Sora, Gregoria de Jesus and Teresa Magbanua Ferraris. She gave a caveat that by doing an imagined spinoffs of their stories, that she would not be misleading readers. I don't think it was needed. I thought that as a woman, the poet was able to assume what, for example, Teodora Alonzo felt during the night when she visited Rizal prior to his execution at the Luneta in 1896. I thought that the poet was able to transmit the pain that was in the heart of the mother who was not even allowed to hold and hug his son for the last time. These are some line from the poet's "One Measured Walk:"

"Her pain admixes with the settling
gloom and in a corner where she slumps
upon a narrow wooden bench,
there is nothing but her grieving
heart spamming this deep chasm
between her own constricted space
and his, there where he sits bent,
all the burden of the world it seems
dumped on his frail shoulders."

And then there is the italicized stanza where the poet assumed the persona of Teodora Alonzo herself by reminding her son about the story and the lesson from the moth and the lamp. It is a very sad poignant poem that almost made my eyes teary and I asked myself why hasn't anyone thought of making a movie or just a protracted story about Teodora Alonzo? With all the tearjerker telenovelas around, this could be a big hit and could be timed for Mother's Day.

There are many other brilliant poems in the book like the ones for Patrocinio Gamboa y Villareal (who would have thought that this was a woman's name? Called Tia Patron, whe was a Jaro, Iloilo heroine), Tandang Sora (who was there in her house at Sitio Pugad Lawin, Bahay Toro, Kalookan when the katipuneros tore their cedulas on August 22, 1896. Two weeks passed and she was deported, along with 171 others, to Guam on charges of sedition and rebellion), Gregoria de Jesus, and Teresa Magbanua Ferraris or Nay Isa, who was a Visayan fighter. She lost her two brothers who fought side by side with her during the Philippine-American war). The poems are not only informative but very emotional. Very timely for today, August 29, 2016, is National Heroes Day.

Thank you, Ma'am Dimalanta for sharing your poems with us. I regret that I was not able to see or talk to you in person. Had I read this book when you were still alive, I would have made utmost effort to invite you as guest in our book club.

#PinoyReadsPinoyBooks

[Ti · Rating 3 out of 5]

favorites: a matter of words, along the bosphorus

[Graciella · Rating 3 out of 5]

and the soul starts preening
and prancing about again
in a fancy dreamtime trance
until the next moonshine
—Friends With The Moon

[Alyssa Danielle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review to follow. pakwanseed.substack.com