World Poetry and Global Leadership: Working Together is the Key to National Greatness
(Full text of the speech prepared by Jose Rizal M. Reyes for delivery during the book launching of Bards from the Far East, Anthology of Haiku and Kindred Verses held at All Seasons Resort, Trinidad Village in Angeles City, Pampanga on January 13, 2018 from 5–9 PM. In the actual delivery, however, about 50% of the complete text was skipped over to keep the speech at a more appropriate length. But the full version is preserved here so that the writer-cum-speaker’s case can be completely presented.)
Distinguished guests, fellow poets and writers, friends, relatives, supporters, well-wishers and everyone else present in this beautiful hall today both visible and invisible, thank you very much for gracing with your gracious presence the book launching of Bards from the Far East, an anthology of haiku and kindred micropoetic verses.
We have a saying nowadays that unless it is posted or announced in Facebook, it isn’t official. Please rest assured that our poetry book, including our book launch, is fully, thoroughly and absolutely official. This book was conceived in Facebook, it was conceptualized in Facebook, and its publication was planned and prepared primarily through our interaction and coordination in Facebook.
Bards from the Far East — the very title of the book indicates a global perspective and expresses the global aspiration of Filipino poets as well as of other Filipino writers and artists. It doesn’t merely say “Bards from the Philippines”. Rather, it says “Bards from the Far East”. Thus, in one fell swoop, the book title encompasses a geographical area much larger than our country even as it also boldly announces to the world: “Make way! Give way! Here come the Filipino poets!”
By the way, if you look around you, you might notice that we have many poets and writers among us today and I would like to salute them and acknowledge their presence, especially the most veteran and the most accomplished among them such as Felix Fojas whose book on exorcism was recently turned by Hollywood into a movie and Epitacio Tongohan who is the founder of the global poetry group Pentasi B, aside from others whose names I failed to list down. In my mind, I look at the more senior men and women of letters as the old reliable guards of the Motherland. But both young and old can serve Flag and Country. And so ladies and gentlemen, let us give all Filipino poets and writers a big, big hand! … Thank you.
I have two pieces of news for you — one is good news, the other is … another good news. The first good news — and this is actually old news — is that during the Internet Age in which we live, it is much easier and much cheaper to publish your book. Just Google “book publishing” and presto! you will find a good number of sites that offer you publishing options, opportunities and possibilities. There are also many, many sites where you can earn money for your poems, essays and short stories as well as for paintings and drawings in the case of painters and drawing artists.
Here is the other good news. According to Carolyn Gutierrez-Abanggan — one of the six principal authors of our book — poetry is becoming popular again in the world market. Some Western novelists have begun inserting in their novels poems that they themselves crafted. One particular Western author by the name of Rick Riordan — who enjoys success in his book-writing career — makes it a habit to start every chapter of his novel with a haiku verse he himself composes.
Even in the Philippines, poetry is enjoying a vigorous resurgence. According to Danny Gallardo, another co-author of our book, the top three bestsellers at the National Bookstore today are all poetry books written by Filipinos in Tagalog. These are the books written by Jason Paul Laxamana, Bella Padilla and Juan Miguel Severo.
So we can only fervently hope that our book Bards from the Far East will benefit tremendously from these favorable developments and circumstances.
Before I proceed, I would like to pose some questions to you: What do you think of Americans … especially American poets? Are American poets better than Filipino poets, better than British poets, and better than poets from other countries? For me, I think American poets are … smart. They seem so to me. After World War II, realizing that their country had suddenly gained a central position and dominant role in the international stage, American poets began to think that America deserved to have the right to exercise world leadership in the cultural field — including poetry — commensurate to America’s new-found leadership in world affairs and global politics.
In line with this captivating vision, American poets began lording it over in poetry as well as in many other fields of life. Side by side with the imposition of Pax Americana, American civilization began to become dominant in our planet. And so my friends and my countrymen, if there are those among you who think that the state of Culture in the world deteriorated during the past several decades, you know exactly whom to blame. And if there are those among you who think that the sacred and noble art of Poesy has been degraded, trivialized, uglified or idiotized during the past 70 years or so, you know exactly who should be held accountable.
But no, I mention this matter not to pin blame on anyone. Rather, my intention is to respond to the triumphant American vision with a happy poetic vision of our own. I believe that the reasoning of the American poets can work the other way around. I believe that by establishing leadership in the cultural field — particularly in poetry — the Philippines will eventually exercise leadership in the general affairs of mankind.
How can this happen? This is the way I see it:
* To establish leadership in world affairs, the Philippines must first establish leadership in the cultural field.
* To establish leadership in the cultural field, the Philippines must first establish leadership in literature and the arts.
* To establish leadership in literature and the arts, the Philippines must first establish leadership in poetry.
* And finally, to establish leadership in poetry, the Philippines must first establish leadership in two important and strategic genres in poetry — namely, the sonnet from the West and haiku from the East.
In William Shakespeare’s sonnet number 55, he referred to the sonnet as “this powerful rhyme”. Many Western poets nowadays shy away from sonneteering because they dread its so-called “uber-strict rules”. According to records, William Wordsworth produced 523 sonnets, the biggest output among British bards. Percy Bysshe Shelley scrawled 18 sonnets, John Milton crafted 23 sonnets, Samuel Taylor Coleridge scribbled 48 sonnets, John Keats penned 67 sonnets, and William Shakespeare or whoever was behind that name famously composed 154 sonnets.
The celebrated Italian bard Francesco Petrarch jotted down at least 317 sonnets, mostly for his beloved Laura. The poet Dante and the painter Michelangelo are among other famous Italian personalities who wrote sonnets.
For about 400 years, the world record in the most number of sonnets written by a poet was jointly held by Luis de Camoes of Portugal and Torquato Tasso of Italy each of whom produced about one thousand sonnets. But today, I am proud to announce to you that for the past several years now, the world record in sonnet writing — at least at the masters’ level — has been safely lodged in Filipino hands. I have already written more than 2000 sonnets and fast counting. And I intend to write 10,000 sonnets more, a literary project I started undertaking since last year.
But there’s one big fly in the ointment. I earlier used the phrase “at the masters’ level” as a qualifier. A certain Merril Moore who lived in America a century ago is said to have written 25,000 sonnets according to one source and 50,000 sonnets according to another source. Still another source even claimed that the Merril Moore output could reach as many as 500,000 sonnets. That’s a whooping half million sonnets! I smell something very fishy with this Merril Moore story. I have been wondering if this is one of those elaborate hoaxes in the Internet. Assuming he really left behind such a huge hoard of writings, can they be properly called sonnets considering that there are strict rules in sonneteering? It is said he wrote so many sonnets because instead of correcting or improving those he wrote previously, he preferred to write new ones. So the alleged sonnets might be mere rough drafts and most likely substandard.
The point is: America cannot claim leadership in sonneteering solely by the reported productivity of Merrill Moore, who is largely ignored or overlooked by Americans themselves. Like in the Olympics, a country cannot claim the championship solely by having the biggest numbers of athletes competing. It simply doesn’t work that way, right?
Be that as it may, there is another area in sonneteering where no country can compete with us. I am proud to declare before you today that the Philippines has invented more sonnet rhyme schemes than what all other countries put together have invented during the sonnet’s 800 years of history. It used to be that most poets heard only about English Sonnet, Italian Sonnet, Sicilian Sonnet and French Sonnet. But nowadays, because of the many new sonnet rhyme schemes invented by the Filipino, don’t be surprised if you begin to hear about Philippine Stanza, Malayan Wave, Polynesian Wave, Melanesian Wave, Indo-China Double Dance, Australian Kangaroo Pause, New Zealand Kiwi Pause, English Canadian, Kindergarten Klasse, Germanic Rhyme Flow, Morya’s Double Lock, Four Kings’ Sonnet, Sonnet Central’s Crybaby Tear Flow, Luzonian Splash, Visayan Splash, Mindanaoan Splash, Sabahan Splash, Formosan Splash and Benham Rise Splash, among other newly-minted or newly-invented sonnet rhyme schemes.
We have invented so many of them that we decided to name some sonnet rhyme schemes in honor of other countries and nations so that the world may know that we Filipinos know how to share and they couldn’t accuse us of being selfish, of hogging everything for ourselves.
Incidentally, the big bulk of my sonnets and a large portion of my haiku verses were crafted in nearby Olongapo City where I resided in semi-retirement and semi-seclusion for 10 long years churning out hundreds and hundreds of poems under the patronage of my elder brother Vic Reyes who was doing some business there related to the industrial gas industry. Sadly, my brother died last year. He would have been happy to be with us today with his business associates in tow; but it wasn’t meant to be. God must have His own plan and timetable.
If the sonnet is the powerful rhyme from the West, haiku is the dynamic verse from the East. Haiku is popular not only in Japan where it originated but also in other parts of the world including the US, Canada, Latin America, Africa, Russia, India, China, Arabic countries and Europe. Being composed of only three short lines, haiku can be easily taught to children and it can wonderfully and magically serve as their entry point to poetry reading and poetry writing. A small kid can take on and tackle the haiku because, you see, they are about of the same size. Haiku is fun and haiku is relaxing. Within the 17 syllables of haiku, both masters and amateurs have crafted many outstanding pieces of humor, wit, wisdom, observation and insight. And within the same 17 syllables of haiku, both masters and amateurs have captured fleeting moments that can touch the heart, titillate the mind, move the soul or stir the spirit.
Traditionally, a haiku verse is accompanied by an illustration called haiga. The brush used to jot down a haiku verse in Japanese character was usually the same brush used to paint the haiga illustration. The verses in our haiku anthology are not accompanied by an illustration each. But you can find there some 33 beautiful and colorful watercolor drawings that can rival the haiga paintings of ancient Japan. They were drawn by our artist Anab Roa, a poetess herself and a graduate of UP in Landscape Architecture, who is counted as among the six principal authors of our book. For her remarkable illustrations, let us give Anab Roa a big round of applause. … Thank you.
Just like in sonneteering, we Filipinos maybe regarded as latecomers in the haiku art. So how could we establish and exercise leadership in this exotic and dynamic poetical genre? Surprisingly and amazingly, I found out that there are vital areas in theoretical discussion about haiku where Filipino contribution may exert a powerful, helpful and beautiful impact. Needless to say, we have merrily joined the fray in theoretical discussion concerning haiku. And that is why you will find in our book Bards from the Far East many ideas and solutions that we propounded precisely to address fundamental issues and problems confronting the haiku genre.
To round it up — whether other nations like it or not and whether other nations are aware of it or not — the Filipino leadership in sonneteering is fixed and unshakeable,thanks to the valiant efforts of William Shakespeare himself and his prophesied disciple cum rival poet. I suppose that some perceptive foreign bards are aware that the Philippines has now a tight grip on sonneteering because as early as 2007, the year I began writing sonnets, some infuriated or dismayed Western poets in MySpace accused me of stealing a neighbor’s property — that is, of stealing a poetic genre that belongs to the West. Filipino leadership in sonneteering will be further cemented when I shall have completed answering sonnet for sonnet the 154 Shakespearian sonnets. As of this date, I have already written more than 40 Replies to the Shakespearian sonnets. I am undertaking this project as a courtesy and duty towards my beloved guru or spiritual master — no other than Sir Francis Bacon who served as the Lord Chancellor of England a long time ago during the reign of King James. According to Mark Twain and many others, Bacon was the true author of the Shakesperian plays and poems. It’s a highly controversial issue that raged on down the centuries and I’d be pleased to discuss it with you at length some other time.
But let me say this: Mark Twain and company have good reasons for their belief because, for one thing, Bacon’s essays are comparable in eloquence and erudition to the works of Shakespeare. Please bear in mind — and this is very significant and you can verify its truthfulness — Bacon was also the translator of the King Jame’s Version of the Bible which, because of its linguistic beauty and scholarly quality, remains to be the most popular and respected version of the Bible until today despite the presence of stiff competition who enjoyed the aid of latest research and modern technology.
But in haiku, although we Filipinos do not occupy a central role and dominant position — not yet anyway — I feel confident that the Philippines will eventually exert a powerful and lasting influence because of our prodigious production of haiku verses and, more importantly, because of our meaningful participation in the theoretical discussion.
This then, my beloved countrymen, is our shining path to national greatness and glory. By establishing global leadership in haiku and in sonneteering, the Philippines can then begin to establish leadership in world affairs and fulfill its prophesied destiny of being a Light to the nations and of establishing the great golden age of this planet during the Third Millennium.
This is without prejudice to other initiatives that Filipinos may take in other fields, be related to poetry or not. The broader the frontline of our national advancement, the more magnificent is our rise to global prominence and primacy.
Take the case of Felix Fojas, the most veteran member of our book-writing team. You can easily remember the first name of Felix if you think of him as the meowing bard — you know, the cartoon character Felix the Cat. Aside from being an accomplished poet and writer, Felix is also a master exorcist and there was this book on exorcism that he wrote. Then there was this American filmmaker who took a fancy on the book written by Felix and the filmmaker offered to turn it into a movie. And so, while we were busy assembling the book Bards from the Far East, Felix was also busy watching the filming of his book where he also served as consultant to ensure that the exorcism scenes were authentic or realistic. Now, it is not everyday that we meet a Filipino whose book was turned into a movie by Hollywood. So for this outstanding achievement and distinction, let us give the meowing bard Felix Fojas a big round of applause. …Thank you.
Then take the case of Carolyn, the point person for this book project and the moving spirit of its publication. She previously wrote two non-fiction books on the side while pursuing her regular professional career and other hobbies and interests. She is also currently writing her debut novel in the dystopian/science fiction genre. But lately, I believe that Carolyn had at last found her true calling and mission in life — and that is to serve as a sort of mother hen or fairy godmother to Filipino poets and writers, especially those who want to publish their works and break into the world market but don’t know how. While preparing for this book launching, Carolyn was already lining up several projects in pursuit of her new-found calling. For the first half of 2018, she wants to publish two more poetry books. One book she wants to get published is an anthology of tanka verses written by Filipinos. As you know, tanka is another famous poetic form from the East. It also originated from Japan and is next only in popularity to haiku. Carolyn is also proposing to publish a book of my sonnets and if this project pushes through, I would like a section in the book to feature or showcase selected poems written by fellow Filipino bards dealing with the general theme of my book. We are also planning to produce teaching modules on poetry writing and this will be a self-liquidating and profitable business-cum-literary endeavor in cyberspace. Many Filipino poets have already signified their interest to work with our team Bards from the Far East. Interestingly, regarding her publishing work, Carolyn is also teaming up with three foreign poets — one American, another British, and the third a gifted 17-year-old Ukranian girl. So this is Carolyn Gutierrez-Abanggan — the emerging fairy godmother of Filipino poets and writers and also of some foreigners. Let’s also give this lovely and lovable lady a big round of applause. …Thank you again.
I would like to observe that there’s a group in Facebook named Gimikan, Tulaan at Biruan sa Bahay Kubo under the leadership of Maconn Feliciano, one of our book’s 17 contributors. Their Facebook group is composed of Filipino poets who are mostly OFWs and they have already published two books of Tagalog poems. Maybe one of these days, they should have a little chat with Carolyn and discuss with her how these two books can be placed and sold at the National Bookstore and preferably can also be ordered online from Amazon.com.
My friends and countrymen, it is said that it takes a village to raise a child. I would like to add that it takes a nation to make a country great, strong and prosperous. Towards that happy and lofty dream, let us dedicate our lives and pool our strengths together to achieve it.
If you notice, we have an inclusive and cooperative way of doing things. Aside from the six principal bards or authors including our skillful artist Anab Roa, we also have 17 contributors headed no less by the Japanese haiku master Hiroshi Taniuchi. This is the bayanihan way of doing things. In the small Asi tribe to which I belong, we call it “boliganan” or “helping one another”. It’s like a flock of birds in flight. According to science, when birds fly in formation and flap their wings together, this creates a situation in the atmosphere which makes flying easier and faster for everyone. It’s about time for Filipino poets, writers, artists and thinkers to form Team Philippines or Philippines Inc. so that by working together and flapping our wings together, our country can soar to lofty heights never reached nor dreamed before both by Filipinos and foreigners.
This brings to mind Japan Inc. As you know, “Japan Inc.” was a global buzzword at the height of Japanese success in international trade during the 1980s and thereabout. Japanese companies would band together and cooperate with the Japanese government. One company would send a team to Country A to study the situation there. Another company would send a team to Country B and do their own reconnaissance. Other companies would send similar teams to other countries and do the same. Then the scouting teams would all return home to Japan and report to the government and to other companies. If the first company would say: “Business prospects are excellent in Country A.” Then all interested Japanese companies would flock to that country and do business there. If the second company would say: “The business climate is awful in Country B”. Then no Japanese company would invest in that awful, damned and God-forsaken country. And so on and so forth. Thus by cooperating with the Japanese government and with one another, Japanese companies became quite successful individually and collectively.
I am reminded again of the smart American poets. No offense meant to anyone but my honest assessment is that there are more great British poets than there are great American poets. One good reason is that the British has a much longer national history than the Americans; therefore, the British had a huge head start and a longer time and opportunity to produce poets of great artistic skill and imagination. As you know very well, the original American states were founded by Great Britain and were mere British colonies. To my mind, there are only two truly great American poets — namely Henry Wadsworth Longfellow who was born in the States and Kahlil Gibran who was born in Lebanon. But Americans know how to patronize and take care of their own. Because they belong to the same national community, they prefer to quote and cite American poets than the great poets of Great Britain or the leading poets of Canada, Australia, New Zealand and other English-speaking places, let alone foreign poets speaking in foreign tongues. And because of US dominance in mass media and communication, even second-rate and third-rate American poets became famous and prominent.
To be fair, I guess we cannot fault the American attitude nor should we envy them for their tremendous success in supporting and promoting their own poets. Taking care of one’s own is a common behavior among mankind. Our national hero Jose Rizal — no relation to me — had a smart idea similar to the smart idea of Americans. Our national hero proposed to his compatriots in Europe — especially the writers among them — that they should support one another by quoting each other. Naturally, if you quote, cite or mention a poet or writer, you would be adding to his prestige, stature and legitimacy. And that was precisely the smart idea of Jose Rizal. We should heed his proposal and begin practicing it in earnest.
Cooperation, mutual support, working together and taking care of one’s own are also the reason why the Chinese in the Philippines are hugely successful. And we Malayan Filipinos, we Austronesian Filipinos, should also do the same.
By supporting each other and by flapping our wings together, we Filipinos can achieve our own Philippine Renaissance. By working together, we can establish in our country a great golden age in Poetry and Literature as well as in other fields of life. And once we become successful, other countries may emulate us if they wish so. This then is the way for the Philippines to establish its own happy version of global leadership.
But there are those who might ask: “Why in the first place should the Philippines bother at all to establish and exercise global leadership?” And I would ask back: “Why not?” I don’t know about you but I am not happy nor contented with the way our planet is being run and managed by the leading nations of our day. It’s about time for another nation to arise and provide the world with a better brand of global leadership. The question of course is: “Are Filipinos up to this difficult task and daunting challenge?” And my simple answer is: “Sure”. It was Napoleon Bonaparte who said that the word “impossible” is not French. It is I who now adds that neither is it Filipino.
My namesake Jose Rizal — to mention him again — famously said that the youth is the fair hope of the Motherland. I won’t disagree with that. However, I firmly believe that older Filipinos — like most of you here, like most of us here — have also a sacred duty, solemn obligation and vital role to play in redeeming our country from the quagmire of poverty, defenselessness and mediocrity. And so with your kind indulgence please, allow me to conclude my talk today by addressing not the Filipino youth but the older generations of Filipinos. And I want to do this by reciting for them and for you, and hopefully with you, the final section of the poem titled “Ulysses” written by Alfred Lord Tennyson, the British poet laureate during the Victorian era:
Come, my friends,
’Tis not too late to seek a newer world.
Push off, and sitting well in order smite
The sounding furrows; for my purpose holds
To sail beyond the sunset, and the baths
Of all the western stars, until I die.
It may be that the gulfs will wash us down:
It may be we shall touch the Happy Isles,
And see the great Achilles, whom we knew.
Tho’ much is taken, much abides; and tho’
We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are;
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and NEVER to yield.
