POEM #5: Monkey Trails of Talinis

Scrambling over, crawling under.

      This is how I described of

      the winding trail that leads,

      to the sheer wilderness, 

      that abound Mount Talinis¹.

Slippery trails, heavy backpacks.

      Straining through jungle haze,

      heavy rains kept me in a daze,

      trying hard to keep the pace,

      cold numbing all my senses.

WARNING! QUICKSAND! DETOUR!

      A signboard on a tree declares,

      lapping on the edge of a trail,

      mixed now with mud and mire,

      unclear to the naked eye.  

Blackened tree stumps, decay.

      Sulfur lake in Ka-ipuhan² lay naked,

      on whose place death waited,

      where a river invites peril,

      to an unsuspecting wayfarer.

Shivering hands, chattering teeth.

      Fog now starts to envelop my tent,

      swept down by the south wind,

      painting a bleak image,

      on my campsite by Na-ilig³ lake.

1The highest peak of the Cuernos de Negros mountain range located in the province of Negros Oriental in Central Philippines and rises to a height of about 6,425 feet above sea level.

2A sulfur lake having an area of about half a hectare. It has a running river passing through it but somehow made undrinkable due to a high sulfur content. Blackened three stumps and rotting carcasses of animals and birds adorn its, otherwise, bare surroundings.

3One of two big lakes (the other Lake Yagumyum) nestling on the shoulders of Mount Talinis.