‘This is my best book of poems’: Cirilo Bautista launches ‘Things Happen’

Even in his 70s, there is no stopping Cirilo F. Bautista from doing what he does best: writing poetry.

This National Artist for Literature added another title to his extensive body of work with "Things Happen: Poems 2012," launched on March 12 at De La Salle University in Manila.

Among the event's guests were fellow National Artists in Literature Bienvenido Lumbera and F. Sionil Jose, National Artist for Music Ramon Santos, poets Gemino Abad and Alfred Yuson, and other personalities in Philippine literature and arts.

Those who read the book before it was officially launched said during their speeches that the lines and phrases Bautista penned in 2012 stirred their hearts.

Even before he heard the reactions of his peers, Bautista revealed that he considers "Things Happen," his 12th poetry collection, to be his best one so far.

"I've been telling people that this is my best book of poems," he later said during his conversation with Lito Zulueta.  

"Things Happen" discusses age, including how the aged deal with hospitalization, loss, and mortality, and how they see the mundane with a more profound set of eyes, publisher John Jack Wigley explained.

At the event, the DLSU Department of Literature also launched the Cirilo F. Bautista Program for Literary Arts, which aims to provide financial aid to writers to push for their craft.

Poetry reading

One of the highlights of the launch was the reading of some of the poems.

Abad opened the reading with a powerful delivery of "So Many Naked Children," which earned cheers and applause from the crowd.

Writer and doctor Alice Sun-Cua read "My Father's House", while young poet Carlomar Arcangel Daoana delivered "I'll Take You Home," award-winning poet Marjorie Evasco read "Style," DLSU Department of Literature chair Dinah Roma read "The Wedding Poem," and poet Yuson closed the poetry reading with "Old Men in the City," a poem dedicated to him and Bautista's other good friend Abad.

As someone who is yet to read "Things Happen," hearing the poets utter the lines Bautista created gave me shivers. Phrases like "I am complete without you" from "I'll Take You Home," "To love always has an ending" from "Style," and "Who am I to write about love, hurt by its inconstancy?" from "The Wedding Poem" hit the right notes, an unconventional take on usual matters of the heart and life.

On ego

"I don't introduce myself as Cirilo Bautista, a poet," the National Artist said during his conversation with Zulueta and the audience.

Instead, he said he just keeps on doing what he does and lets others "label" him.

Although Bautista, who is also a painter and an educator, refuses to box himself as a writer or a poet, he said he is sure of one thing: he is a reader.

"I knew I was reading. When were were poor, I read what I could," he said. Back then, Liwayway and Bulaklak magazines were his first exposure to literature.

Then, he turned to the the audience and said, "Do what you do and let other people give their labels."

Before the night ended, Roma in her prepared speech described her former mentor as someone who knows that "ego is the young writer's best enemy."

True enough, Bautista reminded his peers and aspiring writers about the consequences of having desires, as if warning them to stay grounded.

"The cause of sorrow is desire. Eliminate desire, then you'll eliminate so much more," he said. — BM, GMA News