Hi Salvador magsusundalo
Diri para han nasud.
Diri para hin kun ano pa man.
Tungod kay han tiyan.
An pag-awayan—ha Cordillera,
ha Mindoro, o an ha Sulu,
o man ngani dinhi ha Samar—
asya an paglaom.
Didto, upod han kamatayon
pagbibilngon han akon puto
an kinabuhi.
Kay dinhi hini nga dapit
mapili ka la han kauunongan—
an bala,
o an kawarayan.
Salvador will enter the army
Not for country
Not for anything else
For his belly
The fighting--in Cordillera,
in Mindoro, or that in Sulu,
or even here in Samar--
that is the hope
There, along with death
My youngest will seek
Life
For here in these parts
You may choose your destiny--
the bullet,
or poverty.
-Translated from Waray by Harvey S. Fiji
Titurok ako,
nalalaya ka.
Waray ka man la kumita
han ak’ panmunga.
I was just a seed sprouting,
when your leaves began falling.
A pity you never saw
me bear my first fruits.
may mga putot
nauuna kapurak;
may iba
mauuga na la
di pa gud matagak.
The Coconut
sometimes, the young green ones
are the first to fall;
others
dry on the tree
but never fall.
-Translated from Waray by Merlie M. Alunan