Cebuano Balaki Ko Day Samtang Gasakay Tag

Habalhabal
Author: Adonis G. Durado
Balaki ko day
Samtang gasakay tag habalhabal.
Idat-ol og samut
Kanang imong dughan
Nganhi sa akong bukobuko
Aron mas mabatyagan ko ang hinagubtob
Sa imong kasingkasing.
Sa mga libaong nga atong malabyan.
Gaksa ko paghugot
Sama sa lastikong
Mipungpong sa imong buhok.
Ug sa kainit sa imong ginhawa
Gitika kining akong dughan.
Ang mga balili unya
Nga naghalok sa tong batiis
Isipon tang kaugaligong mga dila.
Dayon samtang nagakatulin
Kining atong dagan,
Mamiyong tag maghangad
Ngadto sa kawanangan
Aron sugaton ang taligsik
Sa uwan, dahon, ug bulak.

ANALYSIS:

Analyzing a poem can be a really hard task to accomplish. Basically, you have to read
it. Usually, these poems would be written in English, so that would have been an easier
undertaking, but somehow our group was assigned with the one written in Cebuano. So,
now we dont only have consider its rhythm and meter, its imagery and symbolism; now,
we also have to decode its meaning and, if possible, translate it into the universal
language. Upon reading and rereading the Cebuano poem Balaki Ko, Day, Samtang
Gasakay Tag Habal-habal written by Adonis G. Durado, we finally came up with an
analysis.
Adonis Durados poem describes a very common situation in the provincial areas a
habal-habal ride but the unique thing about this habal-habal ride is that when you
yourself experience the words articulated by the persona you would know that it has a
romantic and somehow sensual feel to it. The speaker, the driver of the habal-habal,
tells his passenger, a woman who is most probably his lover, to hold on to him tighter for
him to feel her heartbeat more clearly against his back. His want for her to cling to him
tight can be interpreted as an expression of love. This craving of physical intimacy
between the characters suggests of young love, as young couples usually act as if they
cant get enough of each other and has to have their hands on each other constantly.
The poem also has an almost sexual tone to it. The term habal-habal
comes from the word habal, which is a Cebuano term for animals
copulating. Since a habal-habal motorcycle ride makes the passengers and
drivers seem like a bunch of animals copulating, they coined the term
habal-habal. This sexual tone can also be proven from the use of figurative
language suggested on the 14th to the 16th lines of the poem, as well as its
final 6 lines which concludes an orgasm-like ending to the poem.
Mainly, the poem is about a young couple who go for a ride on a habalhabal,
with the driver using the proximity as a reason for the girl to be intimate.