Literal and Figurative Watermelon Therapy
National Watermelon Day was on Thursday, Aug. 3, 2023. August heat got you down? Need more fruit in your diet? Get some watermelon, cool it, chill out, and eat it. When I saw a pickup truck loaded with big watermelons fresh from the farm two days later at the small store nearest to my home I remembered. So there is plenty of this cool local fruit (chandia) available to cool you off. Hope you can get it in into your refrigerator. I usually cut it up to fit into various compartments. Here’s my watermelon poem translated into some local languages. Therapy for your belly and your brain, to explain, reading about and eating it is not a strain.
When Ripe Watermelon
When ripe watermelon busts its rind
and juicy red flesh can be seen
all the fruits of summer come to mind
and watermelon is the queen
the crowning glory of every picnic
just what every barbecue needs
thump for ripeness to get the right pick
have fun spitting out all the seeds.
An Masa I Chandia (Chamorro)
Anai pakpak i lassas
ya sina un lié i chugó yan sensin agagá
ayu na un hasso todo i man mange na fruta siha
lao i chandia i raraina
este i mas ma guaiya espesiatmente para i famaguon
kada man manu nu man nisisita i chandia
ma dakut i chandia ni para u tungu na masa
ya un luga i pipitasnaū.
(Chamorro translation by Carmen C., a Tinian resident)
Kapag Hinog Ang Pakwan (Tagalog)
Kapag sumabog na ang balat ng hinog na pakwan
At kita na ang pula at makatas nitong laman
Naaalala lahat ang mga prutas tuwing tag-init
At ang pakwan ang syang reyna.
ang namamayagpag sa bawat piknik,
Nararapat sa bawat barbekyu,
Katukin ang balat para malaman kung hinog na
Masayang idura ang lahat ng mga buto.
(Translated by J. Vallejera. Translator’s note: I don’t think there is a literal translation of the word” picnic” or ”barbecue” in Tagalog so like the Japanese, Filipinos tend to transliterate many English terms.)
Kun Hinog It Pakwan (Waray)
Kun nagbuto na it anit hit pakwan
Ngan nakikit-an na it maduga ngan pula nga unod
Nanunumduman it tanan nga prutus hit tagsirak
Ngan it pakwan it rayna
Asya it sikat ha kada pagtarampo.
Asya it kinahanglan kada may barbekyu
Tuktuki agud mabaru-an kun hinog nga asya an napili
Pagrisyo pagtupra hit mga liso.
(The translator, J. Vallejera is a native speaker of Waray, the fifth most spoken language in the Philippines. Translator’s note: You can use the term pagka-urusa or pagtarampo which means “get together” or “unity.”)
Lupan Sania A Mau (Mortlockese)
Lupan sania a mau, kilen a sawala
massawan lone en mi par me pukilen
a pwa weuu usun sa pwal anshaanei fansoun le rek
sania i finesamolun finesamolun fan soun
appwesh pwe e kai no lon
fansoun appwesh le rekk
fansoun ohshosh nge mattiuou
pukkilen me le awash.
(Mortlockese translation by Sapuro Rayphand, a retired lawyer and teacher who lives on Saipan. Born on Lukono (Likinioch) atoll in the state of Chuuk, Federated States of Micronesia, Sapuro celebrated his 82nd birthday on Aug. 6. Happy birthday!
Joey aka “Pepe Batbon” Connolly is a retired educator who taught in the CNMI, NOLA, and LVNV. He is the Poet Laureate of Tinian and enjoys stargazing.
