Deep in her heart
In Taiwan for better or worse, overseas workers from each country have their own places where they congregate. For Filipinos, it's the Catholic church; for Thais, most go to the train station, while the Vietnamese and Indonesian nannies gather in parks near their residences. A new life means a new start to human relationships, and life itself is good material for poetry.
Ni Alma Bucayani, a 40-year-old Filipina, says that not only her employer and her employers' friends, but also friends who are from the Philippines are curious as to why she is 40 yet unmarried. "Just explaining this is enough to exhaust you," she says. So she wrote a poem, "Old Maid":
Old maid / How that label stings the ears / It expresses the truth / And expresses the pain in my heart / You can clearly read it on my face / That's right, I'm old / The beautiful countenance of yesteryear is no more / My heart has become very delicate / Please help me out / Call me "Sister," not "Grandma" / Had I a partner I might still not be blessed / Were I married I might not have a good husband / A sudden addition of worry and pain / That sort of marriage / Better none at all than one of that ilk / Only want to live happily / A single lady / Carefree and content.
Most foreign workers come on their own, though many are married. But because they are far from home in an alien land, it is that much easier for them to succumb to affection for another who has come from the same region back home. This is particularly prevalent among workers from the Philippines, because both sexes are in Taiwan, giving birth to a mode of romance dubbed "Only in Taiwan." Resisting such affection from a random meeting can be very difficult.
"Deep in my Heart" by Filipina Ni Janet Lauron expresses the dilemma of to love or not to love:
Unintentional encounter / By God's unintentional arrangement / You were there and yet not / By my side / Seduced into a trap, I fell for you / But you have a wife and I a husband / Oh, no / That kind of romance / Will hurt the innocent / True love is pure and sincere / True love is courageous sacrifice / I know I cannot possess you / I can only hide my love / Deep in my heart.
Love for someone from another country occasionally occurs in a quiet sort of way, and this cultural fusion enriches one's vision and heart. One of the founders of the SMT Poetry Society, Jun M. Sanchez, met his wife while working as an airline cook for TransAsia Airways. After their marriage, they settled in Taiwan. He has written a series of thought-provoking poems on Taiwan, peace and other motifs. In "Peace," he writes:
Love our neighbor as ourselves / Respect each other, forgive our enemies / Let's learn to get closer to one another / We need to reconcile to God our maker.
Several tens of thousands of years ago, speakers of Austronesian languages used Taiwan as a stepping stone, moving from the Asian mainland to flower throughout the Pacific Ocean region. They left behind them a dozen or so native peoples who, because of the beauty of the island-and despite their different races and tongues -lingered here and co-existed peacefully. Over the centuries peoples of different clans have crossed the strait from China to Taiwan, at times for its renowned fertile and lovely land, at times to seek refuge from war. And the island has exercised its greatest tolerance to support the dreams of those immigrants who came in waves over time.
In the past due to Taiwan's unique diplomatic impasse, mutual understanding of its neighbors and each others' cultures has not been sufficiently deep. Since the arrival of the foreign workers in Taiwan and misunderstandings bred by an initial spate of crime and the unrest at the sixth naphtha cracker, Taiwan has now begun to encourage the creation of poetry to further mutual understanding and forgiveness.
Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God.
From ancient times Taiwan has been a most tolerant land, quite small, but capable of nurturing the countless dreams of countless souls.
Transforming feeling into poetry, and making it into a force for life: The poetry of Taiwan's foreign workers represents a revolution in both form and content.
"Old Maid," a poem by Ni Alma Bucayani of the Philippines, has opened new horizons for Taiwan's "Literature of the Foreign Worker."
Indonesia's Priska Rahayu: Performing poetry has become a means for deciphering the meaning of life.
SMT Poetry Society, founded by workers from the Philippines, was the inspiration behind the Taipei government's decision to organize a poetry competition for foreign workers. The photo features members of the poetry society in traditional garb at the Philippines National Day celebration held in Taipei.
Transforming feeling into poetry, and making it into a force for life: The poetry of Taiwan's foreign workers represents a revolution in both form and content.
SMT Poetry Society, founded by workers from the Philippines, was the inspiration behind the Taipei government's decision to organize a poetry competition for foreign workers. The photo features members of the poetry society in traditional garb at the Philippines National Day celebration held in Taipei.