LOVE Pag-ibig Jose Corazon de Jesus In a white book, writing was done with tears, And so we cannot figure

out a single line; Memorized and thought about since early youth, It eludes one's wit even as one has aged and greyed. When mind seeks it out, love turns up in the heart, When heart pursues it, love is in the mind, escaping wit. Regarded at close range, love dissipates, Leave it aside and love turns sad and grieves. When loving is intense, love resists the long wait, Like a lightning bolt, it streaks across the dark. The kiss that sears is a kiss given only once, And when the river swells, only once will flooding rise. Love that is timid is a river still and currentless, No falls nor torrents, no tears nor unbearable loss! But when love has dared, the heart is swept away, Honor, wealth and wisdom, love will drown them out! Where love is yet a bud, it heeds an elder's counsel, Such is not yet love, for it still sees the light. But when it bursts aflame, what matter the universeThat's real love, so lose yourself in it with all your heart. Love has eyes, love is never blind, Having learned to love, one's wounds turn

into blossoms, Love is selfish and cannot bear to share, It's either you get it, or get nothing at all. "Mother has been watching me, so I cannot write" Friend, that's a sign you have yet to win her love. But when she dares write even at her very gravesite, She has come to love you more that her very life. All you, young people, who are in quest of love, Moths who are fluttering around the lamplight, Once in the grip of love, danger you will seek out, Ready to lose your wings to the very flames of love. (1926) Translation: Bienvenido Lumbera