Isle of the Dead
by Kristian Sendon CorderoThe waves wash in corpses together with broken shells,
dirt, and sea leaves whose roots bring skin rashes.
The bodies have been bitten off in parts, fish and jellyfish
ate away some of the ears, sucked out eyes, one infant was legless.
The price of fish went down, prawns were given away. On the shore,
the boats lay stranded, or had lifted nets of bad dreams together
with matted hair—very dark, black.
When the sun told the hours again everything became numbers
and documents once more: names of the dead, number of survivors,
company or government assistance for the injured and the orphaned,
the captain’s license, the date of the tragedy, testimonies.
On the island where some bodies were found, a corpse had bewitched
someone, who then began healing the sick, foretelling again
the return of the missing. Crosses multiply on each date, signs
of waiting and the continuing wake among empty graves.
Isla De Los Muertos
Inaatong kan hukol an mga bangkay kaibahan an mga parasang buskay,
ati, buda mga tinanom kan dagat na magatol an ugat kun minadukot sa kublit.
May mga kul’it an hawak kan mga gadan, kinakan na kan mga sira buda salabay an talinga,
pigsupsop an mata, mayo nang tabay na nakua an sarung omboy.
Nagbarato an mga sira asin pinanao na sana an sugpo.
Sa pampang, natagalpoan mga baroto asin napupukot
a mga lambat an mga pangum-um kaibahan
an sarabod na buhok—maiitum, malalatum.
Kan nagin nang relong pigtitingag giraray an saldang nagin numero asin dokumento
liwat an gabos: an pangaran kan mga nagadan, bilang kan nakaligtas,
an tabang na itatao kan kompanya asin gobyerno sa mga nairido buda nailo,
an lisensya kan kapitan, an petsa kan trahedya, an mga testimonya.
Sa isla kun sain nakua an pirang bangkay, may sinasabing naibanhan
kan sarung nagadan, nambubulong na daa ini, nag-uukod kan giraray
na pagpuli kan mga dai na nakua. Nagdadakul an krus sa kada petsa,
tanda nin paghalat asin may mga padagos na nagpupuka sa mga mayong laog na nitso.
