Gabu by Carlos A. Angeles

1. Gabu
BY CARLOS A. ANGELES

2. The battering restlessness of the sea
Insists a tidal fury upon the beach
At Gabu, and its pure consistency
Havos the wasteland hard within its
reach.

3. Brutal the daylong bashing of its heart
Against the seascape where, for miles
around,
Farther than sight itself, the rock-
stones part
And drop into the elemental wound.

4. The waste of centuries is grey and dead
And neutral where the sea has
beached its brine,
Where the spilt salt of its heart lies
spread
Among the dark habiliments of Time.

5. The waste of centuries is grey and dead
And neutral where the sea has
beached its brine,
Where the spilt salt of its heart lies
spread
Among the dark habiliments of Time.

6. The vital splendor misses. For here, here
At Gabu where the ageless tide recurs
All things forfeited are most loved and
dear.
It is the sea pursues a habit of shores.

7. Born on May 25, 1921
in Tacloban City,
Leyte
Graduated from Rizal
High in 1938
Various universities in
pre-med and pre-law
Carlos A. Angeles

8. Chief of the Philippine bureau of
International News Service
Guest of the US State Department
on a Smith-Mundt leader grant
Press assistant under the Garcia
administration
Public relations manager of
PanAmAirlines
Board of directors of International
PEN, Philippine chapter
1950 to 1958
1958 to 1980
Carlos A. Angeles

9. 1963
47 poems
In 1964, when poetry was first
considered in the Carlos
Palanca Memorial Awards for
Literature, received first prize
Republic Cultural Heritage
Award for Literature
A Stun of Jewels
USA since 1978 with his family
Carlos A. Angeles

10. Genre
PHILOSOPHICAL (EXISTENTIALIST)
LYRIC POEM
Persona
PROBABLY SOMEONE ON A BEACH AT GABU,
WATCHING THE ROUGH SEA, CONTEMPLATING LIFE

11. WHERE IS GABU?

12. Gabu, Ilocos Norte,
Philippines

15. IMAGERY IS A POETIC ELEMENT THAT
TRIES TO CREATE A PICTURE IN THE
MIND OF THE READER OR A MENTAL
IMAGE THROUGH THE USE OF FIGURAL
LANGUAGE. IT REPRESENTS OBJECTS,
PLACES, IDEAS, OR EVEN ACTIONS
THAT APPEAL TO THE SENSES OF THE
READERS.

16. The battering restlessness of the sea
Insists a tidal fury upon the beach
At Gabu, and its pure consistency
Havos the wasteland hard within its
reach.

17. A place in Ilocos Norte near the sea
Often, when typhoons occur, places
like this are affected greatly
Tsunami
Ex: typhoon Imbudo, July 2003
Sea = Life
Battering restlessness =
Impermanent
Gabu
The sea is restless and can be
destructive

18. Brutal the daylong bashing of its heart
Against the seascape where, for miles
around,
Farther than sight itself, the rock-
stones part
And drop into the elemental wound.

19. The turmoil of the sea is continuous
and powerful
Brutal bashing = life’s chaos
Elemental wound = Depths of the
sea

20. The waste of centuries is grey and dead
And neutral where the sea has
beached its brine,
Where the spilt salt of its heart lies
spread
Among the dark habiliments of Time.

21. The sea has been there for centuries
Waste of centuries = Past
Once the sea touches shore, it
becomes neutral
Spilt salt = Bad luck
Saltiness of the sea describes it’s
darkness/deadness
Time bears the “spilt salt” of life

22. The vital splendor misses. For here, here
At Gabu where the ageless tide recurs
All things forfeited are most loved and
dear.

23. The brilliance necessary for life is
not there because in life even the
most important things are lost

24. It is the sea pursues a habit of shores.

25. Waves show that the sea is
constantly moving, but always
towards the shore
Life is bounded by time, always
moving, but what we all desire is a
stable and eternal ending
Spiritual context: Shore = afterlife

26. Always remember that our lives are
fleeting. The only constant thing in life
is change. Life can be rough, like the
sea • But we can believe that if the
sea can find stability once it meets the
shore, we can find it too
REACTION

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