ANO TALAGA ANG HALAGA

Hindi bawal ang mangarap
Hindi rin bawal matamo ito
Ang kayamanan
Ay di masamang arihin
Basta't huwag mong pabayaan
Na nakawin ang buong kaluluwa mo
At kapag hawak mo
Bawasan mo ang higpit
Ako'y isang babae
Na naranasan
Ang buhay burgis
At buhay mahirap
Sa awa ng Panginoon
Di ko pa nadanas
Ang buhay pulubi
Sa aking karanasan
Naintindihan ko
Sa aking munting ulo
O tinatanong ko
Ang tunay na halaga
Ng kayamanan ng mundo

BEHIND THAT VEIL

Behind that veil
Lies a wound so dark
So hidden in secrecy
Never mentioned outside
The four mosaic walls

In solitude
She is crying to Allah
Maybe in hatred
Maybe in despair
She has right to both

Her father does not hear
Her brothers tell her to stop
Her husband scolds her
Her mother ignores her
Because that is also her lot

Must thing always be this way
Always to succumb to violence
Is she not also a human being
Born from the same womb
As her brothers who hit her