Despite the series of mishaps that occured in 2020, award-winning Filipino poet Marjorie Evasco made use of her free time to stop and stare at the beauty of nature, and at the same time seeked inner peace to freshen her approach in writing through her literary work, “A Turtle-Poet Dreams, Given Time.”
Written by Evasco last July 2020, who writes both in English and in Bisaya, “A Turtle-Poet Dreams, Given Time” is a compilation of poems all connected to one another for the Asian American Writers’ Workshop. A total of three poems titled In Baclayon, Reading Levertov’s “For Whom the Gods Love Less; Vesak 2020; and A Turtle-Poet Dreams, Given Time.
Collectively, the three pieces center on the life of a poet who lays back a little from one’s everyday life as she refreshens her ideas from renowned poets’ works, praying to the Gods and being one with nature.
In Baclayon, Reading Levertov’s “For Whom the Gods Love Less
Born and raised in the Visayan province, Evasco utilized Baclayon, a municipality of Bohol, to visualize the setting for the first poem. The character discussed the award-winning British-born naturalised American poet Denise Levertov’s work. Coming to a question that maybe the Gods do love poets less. Trees that bear refreshing Tambis fruits to quench dry throats and birds singing in unison in the humid May afternoon brought peace to the character; making her realize that this is the only way to embrace love.
Vesak 2020
The second among three poems Evasco wrote focuses on the character’s sentiments towards Buddhism. Even though Evasco didn’t clearly state it was about Buddhism, she titled it “Vesak,” the most important holiday for all Buddhists as it was a sacred day to them.
Throughout the poem, the cycle of nature was emphasized; how a small warbler gathered pieces of twigs and threads to build a nest, perfecting the art of weaving, creating a prayer shelter for the meek but versatile feathered creature.
A Turtle-Poet Dreams, Given Time
The four-paragraph poem centers on the life of a poet who lays back a little bit from work due to strong typhoons that occured, which eventually granted her wish to have more time to clear her head.
“Saint Kunitz prays: O teach me to work & keep me
Kind. And she, swimming now among Stanley’s
Turtles and lilies, slowly rises to the upper rim”
Seen from the three-liner snippet above, Evasco depicts the struggle of the character in writing as she portrayed Stanley Kunitz, a famous award-winning American poet, as a saint; praying to Kunitz for wisdom to keep the ideas flowing in.
Evasco’s style of writing in this work is mostly allusions to emphasize the character’s wild imagination of dwelling into another world, gathering the right syllables and poetic meters to come up with a flawless piece.
“The lauds: Nothing here. There’s nothing
To have here but slow, sweet time”
Overall, the poem highlights the essence of time, making it a point to realize that time will keep on going, and that everyone has ample of time right by their side to accomplish the things they long for.
It has also come to attention that Evasco may have written these poems as a reference to herself. From a previous interview with Usha Akella from Cha: An Asian Literary Journal last 2014, Evasco alluded her nature of work to a turtle, implying that her writing process is usually done at a “turtle’s pace.” She also shared that she has been practicing the basic lifestyle of Buddhism, which in turn reflects her writings.
These three poems are all available to the public here.
