POEM

WHEN I WAS ONE-AND-TWENTY

By: A.E Housman

When I was one-and-twenty

I heard a wise man say,
‘Give crowns and pounds and guineas
But not your heart away;
Give pearls away and rubies
But keep you fancy free.’
But I was one-and-twenty,
No use to talk to me.
When I was one-and-twenty
I heard him say again,
‘The heart out of the bosom
Was never given in vain;
‘Tis paid with sighs a plenty
And sold for endless rue.’
And I am two-and-twenty,
And oh, ‘tis true, ‘tis true.

I’m Nobody—Who are You?

Emily Dickinson

I'm nobody! Who are you?

Are you nobody, too?
Then there's a pair of us--don't tell!
They'd banish us, you know.
How dreary to be somebody!
How public, like a frog
To tell your name the livelong day
To an admiring bog!
The Man With The Hoe (Written After Seeing Millet's
World-Famous Painting)

Bowed by the weight of centuries he leans

Upon his hoe and gazes on the ground,
The emptiness of ages in his face,
And on his back the burden of the world.
Who made him dead to rapture and despair,
A thing that grieves not and that never hopes,
Stolid and stunned, a brother to the ox?
Who loosened and let down this brutal jaw?
Whose was the hand that slanted back this brow?
Whose breath blew out the light within this brain?
Is this the Thing the Lord God made and gave
To have dominion over sea and land;
To trace the stars and search the heavens for power;
To feel the passion of Eternity?
Is this the Dream He dreamed who shaped the suns
And marked their ways upon the ancient deep?
Down all the stretch of Hell to its last gulf
There is no shape more terrible than this --
More tongued with censure of the world's blind greed --
More filled with signs and portents for the soul --
More fraught with menace to the universe.
What gulfs between him and the seraphim!
Slave of the wheel of labor, what to him
Are Plato and the swing of Pleiades?
What the long reaches of the peaks of song,
The rift of dawn, the reddening of the rose?
Through this dread shape the suffering ages look;
Time's tragedy is in that aching stoop;
Through this dread shape humanity betrayed,
Plundered, profaned and disinherited,
Cries protest to the Judges of the World,
A protest that is also prophecy.
O masters, lords and rulers in all lands,
Is this the handiwork you give to God,
This monstrous thing distorted and soul-quenched?
How will you ever straighten up this shape;
Touch it again with immortality;
Give back the upward looking and the light;
Rebuild in it the music and the dream;
Make right the immemorial infamies,
Perfidious wrongs, immedicable woes?
O masters, lords and rulers in all lands,
How will the Future reckon with this Man?
How answer his brute question in that hour
When whirlwinds of rebellion shake the world?
How will it be with kingdoms and with kings --
With those who shaped him to the thing he is --
When this dumb Terror shall reply to God,
After the silence of the centuries?

WAR IS KIND
by Stephen Crane
Drawings by Will Bradley
1899

Do not weep, maiden, for war is kind.

Because your lover threw wild hands toward the sky
And the affrighted steed ran on alone,
Do not weep.
War is kind.
Hoarse, booming drums of the
regiment,
Little souls who thirst for fight,
These men were born to drill and die.
The unexplained glory files above
them,
Great is the battle-god, great, and his
kingdom--
A field where a thousand corpses lie.
Do not weep, babe, for war is kind.
Because your father tumbled in the yellow
trenches,
Raged at his breast, gulped and died,
Do not weep.
War is kind.
Swift blazing flag of the regiment,
Eagle with crest of red and gold,
These men were born to drill and die.
Point for them the virtue of the slaughter,
Make plain to them the excellence of killing
And a field where a thousand corpses
lie.
Mother whose heart hung humble as a button
On the bright splendid shroud of your son,
Do not weep.
War is kind.
What says the sea, little shell?
"What says the sea?
"Long has our brother been silent to us,
"Kept his message for the ships,
"Awkward ships, stupid ships."
"The sea bids you mourn, O Pines,
"Sing low in the moonlight.
"He sends tale of the land of doom,
"Of place where endless falls
"A rain of women's tears,
"And men in grey robes--
"Men in grey robes--
"Chant the unknown pain."
"What says the sea, little shell?
"What says the sea?
"Long has our brother been silent to us,
"Kept is message for the ships,
2
"Puny ships, silly ships."
"The sea bids you teach, O Pines,
"Sing low in the moonlight;
"Teach the gold of patience,
"Cry gospel of gentle hands,
"Cry a brotherhood of hearts.
"The sea bids you teach, O Pines."
"And where is the reward, little shell?
"What says the sea?
"Long has our brother been silent to us,
"Kept his message for the ships,
"Puny ships, silly ships."
"No word says the sea, O Pines,
"No word says the sea.
"Long will your brother be silent to you,
"Keep his message for the ships,
"O puny ships, silly pines."
To the maiden
The sea was blue meadow,
Alive with little froth-people
Singing.
To the sailor, wrecked,
The sea was dead grey walls
Superlative in vacancy,
Upon which nevertheless at fateful time
Was written
The grim hatred of nature.
A little ink more or less!
It surely can't matter?
Even the sky and the opulent sea,
The plains and the hills, aloof,
Hear the uproar of all these books.
But it is only a little ink more or less.
What?
You define me God with these trinkets?
Can my misery meal on an ordered walking
Of surpliced numskulls?
And a fanfare of lights?
Or even upon the measured pulpitings
Of the familiar false and true?
Is this God?
Where, then is hell?
Show me some bastard mushrooms
Sprung from a pollution of blood.
It is better.
Where is God?
"Have you ever made a just man?"
"Oh, I have made three," answered
God,
"But two of them are dead,
"And the third--
"Listen! Listen!
"And you will hear the thud of his defeat."
I explain the silvered passing of a ship
at night,
The sweep of each sad lost wave,
The dwindling boom of the steel thing's striving,
The little cry of a man to a man,
A shadow falling across the greyer night,
And the sinking of the small star;
Then the waste, the far waste of waters,
And the soft lashing of black waves
For long and in loneliness.
Remember, thou, O ship of love,
Thou leavest a far waste of waters,
And the soft lashing of black waves
For long and in loneliness.
"I have heard the sunset song of the
birches,
"A white melody in the silence,
"I have seen a quarrel of the pines.
"At nightfall
"The little grasses have rushed by me
"With the wind men.
"These things have I lived," quoth the
maniac,
"Possessing only eyes and ears.
"But you--
"You don green spectacles before you look at roses."
Fast rode the knight
With spurs, hot and reeking,
Ever waving an eager sword,
"To save my lady!"
Fast rode the knight,
And leaped from saddle to war.
Men of steel flickered and gleamed
Like riot of silver lights,
4
And the gold of the knight's good banner
Still waved on a castle wall.
......
A horse,
Blowing, staggering, bloody thing,
Forgotten at foot of castle wall.
A horse
Dead at foot of castle wall.
Forth went the candid man
And spoke freely to the wind--
When he looked about him he was in a far
strange country.
Forth went the candid man
And spoke freely to the stars--
Yellow light tore sight from his eye.
"My good fool," said a learned bystander,
"Your operations are mad."
"You are too candid," cried the candid man.
And when his stick left the head of the
learned bystander
It was two sticks.
You tell me this is God?
I tell you this is a printed list,
A burning candle and an ass.
On the desert
A silence from the moon's deepest
valley.
Fire rays fall athwart the robes
Of hooded men, squat and dumb.
Before them, a woman
Moves to the blowing of shrill whistles
And distant thunder of drums,
While mystic things, sinuous, dull with
terrible color,
Sleepily fondle her body
Or move at her will, swishing stealthily over
the sand.
The snakes whisper softly;
The whispering, whispering snakes,
Dreaming and swaying and staring,
But always whispering, softly whispering.
5
The wind streams from the lone reaches
Of Arabia, solemn with night,
And the wild fire makes shimmer of blood
Over the robes of the hooded men
Squat and dumb.
Bands of moving bronze, emerald, yellow,
Circle the throat and arms of her,
And over the sands serpents move warily
Slow, menacing and submissive,
Swinging to the whistles and drums,
The whispering, whispering snakes,
Dreaming and swaying and staring,
But always whispering, softly whispering.
The dignity of the accursed;
The glory of slavery, despair, death,
Is in the dance of the whispering snakes.
A newspaper is a collection of half-injustices
Which, bawled by boys from mile to mile,
Spreads its curious opinion
To a million merciful and sneering men,
While families cuddle the joys of the fireside
When spurred by tale of dire lone agony.
A newspaper is a court
Where every one is kindly and unfairly tried
By a squalor of honest men.
A newspaper is a market
Where wisdom sells its freedom
And melons are crowned by the crowd.
A newspaper is a game
Where his error scores the player victory
While another's skill wins death.
A newspaper is a symbol;
It is fetless life's chronical,
A collection of loud tales
Concentrating eternal stupidities,
That in remote ages lived unhaltered,
Roaming through a fenceless world.
The wayfarer,
Perceiving the pathway to truth,
Was struck with astonishment.
It was thickly grown with weeds.
"Ha," he said,
"I see that none has passed here
"In a long time."
Later he saw that each weed
Was a singular knife.
"Well," he mumbled at last,
"Doubtless there are other roads."
A slant of sun on dull brown walls,
A forgotten sky of bashful blue.
Toward God a mighty hymn,
A song of collisions and cries,
Rumbling wheels, hoof-beats, bells,
Welcomes, farewells, love-calls, final moans,
Voices of joy, idiocy, warning, despair,
The unknown appeals of brutes,
The chanting of flowers,
The screams of cut trees,
The senseless babble of hens and wise men--
A cluttered incoherency that says at the
stars;
"O God, save us!"
Once a man clambering to the housetops
Appealed to the heavens.
With a strong voice he called to the deaf
spheres;
A warrior's shout he raised to the suns.
Lo, at last, there was a dot on the clouds,
And--at last and at last--
--God--the sky was filled with armies.
There was a man with tongue of wood
Who essayed to sing,
And in truth it was lamentable.
But there was one who heard
The clip-clapper of this tongue of wood
And knew what the man
Wished to sing,
And with that the singer was content.
The successful man has thrust himself
Through the water of the years,
Reeking wet with mistakes,--
Bloody mistakes;
Slimed with victories over the lesser,
A figure thankful on the shore of money.
Then, with the bones of fools
He buys silken banners
Limned with his triumphant face;
With the skins of wise men
He buys the trivial bows of all.
Flesh painted with marrow
Contributes a coverlet,
A coverlet for his contented slumber.
In guiltless ignorance, in ignorant guilt,
He delivered his secrets to the riven multitude.
"Thus I defended: Thus I wrought."
Complacent, smiling,
He stands heavily on the dead.
Erect on a pillar of skulls
He declaims his trampling of babes;
Smirking, fat, dripping,
He makes speech in guiltless ignorance,
Innocence.
In the night
Grey heavy clouds muffled the valleys,
And the peaks looked toward God alone.
"O Master that movest the wind with a
finger,
"Humble, idle, futile peaks are we.
"Grant that we may run swiftly across
the world
"To huddle in worship at Thy feet."
In the morning
A noise of men at work came the clear blue miles,
And the little black cities were apparent.
"O Master that knowest the meaning of raindrops,
"Humble, idle, futile peaks are we.
"Give voice to us, we pray, O Lord,
"That we may sing Thy goodness to the sun."
In the evening
The far valleys were sprinkled with tiny lights.
"O Master,
"Thou that knowest the value of kings and birds,
"Thou hast made us humble, idle, futile peaks.
"Thous only needest eternal patience;
"We bow to Thy wisdom, O Lord--
"Humble, idle, futile peaks."
In the night
Grey heavy clouds muffles the valleys,
And the peaks looked toward God alone.
The chatter of a death-demon from a tree-top.
Blood--blood and torn grass--
Had marked the rise of his agony--
This lone hunter.
The grey-green woods impassive
Had watched the threshing of his limbs.
A canoe with flashing paddle,
A girl with soft searching eyes,
A call: "John!"
.......
Come, arise, hunter!
Can you not hear?
The chatter of a death-demon from a treetop.
The impact of a dollar upon the heart
Smiles warm red light,
Sweeping from the hearth rosily upon the
white table,
With the hanging cool velvet shadows
Moving softly upon the door.
The impact of a million dollars
Is a crash of flunkys,
And yawning emblems of Persia
Cheeked against oak, France and a sabre,
The outcry of old beauty
Whored by pimping merchants
To submission before wine and chatter.
Silly rich peasants stamp the carpets of men,
Dead men who dreamed fragrance and light
Into their woof, their lives;
The rug of an honest bear
Under the feet of a cryptic slave
Who speaks always of baubles,
Forgetting state, multitude, work, and state,
Champing and mouthing of hats,
Making ratful squeak of hats,
Hats.
A man said to the universe:
"Sir, I exist!"
"However," replied the universe,
"The fact has not created in me
"A sense of obligation."
When the prophet, a complacent fat
man,
Arrived at the mountain-top,
He cried: "Woe to my knowledge!
"I intended to see good white lands
"And bad black lands,
"But the scene is grey."
There was a land where lived no
violets.
A traveller at once demanded: "Why?"
The people told him:
"Once the violets of this place spoke thus:
"'Until some woman freely give her lover
"'To another woman
"'We will fight in bloody scuffle.'"
Sadly the people added:
"There are no violets here."
There was one I met upon the road
Who looked at me with kind eyes.
He said: "Show me of your wares."
And I did,
Holding forth one,
He said: "It is a sin."
Then I held forth another.
He said: "It is a sin."
Then I held forth another.
He said: "It is a sin."
And so to the end.
Always He said: "It is a sin."
At last, I cried out:
"But I have non other."
He looked at me
With kinder eyes.
"Poor soul," he said.
Aye, workman, make me a dream,
A dream for my love.
Cunningly weave sunlight,
Breezes, and flowers.
Let it be of the cloth of meadows.
And--good workman--
And let there be a man walking thereon.
Each small gleam was a voice,
A lantern voice--
In little songs of carmine, violet, green, gold.
A chorus of colors came over the water;
The wondrous leaf-shadow no longer wavered,
No pines crooned on the hills,
The blue night was elsewhere a silence,
When the chorus of colors came over the
water,
Little songs of carmine, violet, green, gold.
Small glowing pebbles
Thrown on the dark plane of evening
Sing good ballads of God
And eternity, with soul's rest.
Little priests, little holy fathers,
None can doubt the truth of hour hymning.
When the marvellous chorus comes over the
water,
Songs of carmine, violet, green, gold.
The trees in the garden rained flowers.
Children ran there joyously.
They gathered the flowers
Each to himself.
Now there were some
Who gathered great heaps--
Having opportunity and skill--
Until, behold, only chance blossoms
Remained for the feeble.
Then a little spindling tutor
Ran importantly to the father, crying:
"Pray, come hither!
"See this unjust thing in your garden!"
But when the father had surveyed,
He admonished the tutor:
"Not so, small sage!
"This thing is just.
"For, look you,
"Are not they who possess the flowers
"Stronger, bolder, shrewder
"Than they who have none?
"Why should the strong--
"The beautiful strong--
"Why should they not have the flowers?
Upon reflection, the tutor bowed to the
ground.
"My lord," he said,
"The stars are displaced
"By this towering wisdom."

Richard Cory

Edwin Arlington Robinson (1869-1935)

Whenever Richard Cory went down town,

We people on the pavement looked at him:
He was a gentleman from sole to crown,
Clean favored, and imperially slim.
And he was always quietly arrayed,
And he was always human when he talked;
But still he fluttered pulses when he said,
"Good-morning," and he glittered when he walked.
And he was rich—yes, richer than a king—
And admirably schooled in every grace:
In fine, we thought that he was everything
To make us wish that we were in his place.
So on we worked, and waited for the light,
And went without the meat, and cursed the bread;
And Richard Cory, one calm summer night,
Went home and put a bullet through his head.
An Elementary School
Classroom in a Slum
Stephen Spender (1909-1995)
Far far from gusty waves these children’s faces.
Like rootless weeds, the hair torn round their pallor:
The tall girl with her weighed-down head. The paperseeming
boy, with rat’s eyes. The stunted, unlucky heir
Of twisted bones, reciting a father’s gnarled disease,
His lesson, from his desk. At back of the dim class
One unnoted, sweet and young. His eyes live in a dream,
Of squirrel’s game, in tree room, other than this.
On sour cream walls, donations. Shakespeare’s head,
Cloudless at dawn, civilized dome riding all cities.
Belled, flowery, Tyrolese valley. Open-handed map
Awarding the world its world. And yet, for these
Children, these windows, not this map, their world,
Where all their future’s painted with a fog,
A narrow street sealed in with a lead sky
Far far from rivers, capes, and stars of words.
Surely, Shakespeare is wicked, the map a bad example,
With ships and sun and love tempting them to steal—
For lives that slyly turn in their cramped holes
From fog to endless night? On their slag heap, these children
Wear skins peeped through by bones and spectacles of steel
With mended glass, like bottle bits on stones.
All of their time and space are foggy slum.
So blot their maps with slums as big as doom.
Unless, governor, inspector, visitor,
This map becomes their window and these windows
That shut upon their lives like catacombs,
Break O break open till they break the town
And show the children to green fields, and make their world
Run azure on gold sands, and let their tongues
Run naked into books the white and green leaves open
History theirs whose language is the sun.
 DRAMA

THE WORLD IS AN APPLE

By: Alberto S. Florentino

Characters:
Mario
Gloria
Pablo

Time: Late afternoon

Scene: A small and poor home behind a portion of the Intramuros walls. There are two wooden
boxes on either side of the doorway. At left is an Acacia tree with a wooden bench under it.
Mario enters from the street at the left. He is in his late twenties, dressed in old and worn out
and with hair that seems to have been uncut for weeks. He puts his lunch bag on the bench, sits
down, removes his shoes and puts them beside his lunch bag.

Gloria: (calls from inside) Mario! (no answer) Mario, is that you?
Mario: Yes.
(Gloria, a small woman of Mario's age, with long hair and a thin body, comes out wiping her
hands on her dress.)
Gloria: I'm glad you're home early.
Mario: How is Tita? (Without waiting for an answer, he enters the dwelling.)
Gloria: (crosses to bench) Don't wake her up, Mario. She's tired; she's been crying all day.
Mario: (reappears and crosses to bench and sits on one end) Has she been eating well?
Gloria: She wouldn't eat even a mouthful of lugao. I'll buy her some biscuits. Maybe she'll eat
them. (She slips her fingers into his breast pocket.) I'll take some money—
Mario: (rises, annoyed) Gloria! Wait a minute!
Gloria: (surprised) Hey, what's the matter? Why are you suddenly so touchy?
Mario: Who wouldn't be? I'm talking to you about the child and you bother me by searching my
pockets! I wish you'd think more of our daughter!
Gloria: (crosses to center) My God! Wasn't I think of her? Why do you think I need some
money? To buy me a pretty dress? Or see a movie?
Mario: Lower your voice. You'll wake the child up.
Gloria: (low, but intense) All I want is a little money to buy her something to eat! She hasn't
eaten anything all day! That's why I was “bothering” you!
Mario: (apologetic) I'm sorry, Gloria…(Grips her arm and turns away.)
Gloria: It's all right, Mario. Now, may I have some of the money?
Mario: (turns to her) Money? I…I don't have any, not right now.
Gloria: Today is payday, Mario.
Mario: Yes, but-
Gloria: But what? Where's your pay for the week?
Mario: I don't have it.
Gloria: What? I waited for you the whole day and you tell me—
Mario: (angry) —that I have nothing! Nothing! What do you want me to do, steal?
Gloria: I'm not asking you to do a thing like that! All I want to know is what you did with your
pay.
Mario: (sits on the bench) Nothing is left of it.
Gloria: What happened?
Mario: Oh, I had a few drinks with my friends. Before I knew it, I had spent every centavo of it.
Gloria: (eying him closely) Mario, do you think you can make a fool of me? Haven't I seen you
drunk before, crawling home like a wounded snake and smelling of alcohol like a hospital? You
don't smell or look drunk.
Mario: All right, so I didn't go drinking.
Gloria: But your pay, what happened to it?
Mario: It's better if you don't know, Gloria.
Gloria: Look, Mario, I'm your wife. I have the right to half of everything you get. If I can't have
my share, I have the right to know at least where it went!
Mario: All right (rises). I spent it all on another woman.
Gloria: Another woman? I don't believe it. I know you wouldn't do such a thing.
Mario: I didn't know you had so much faith in me.
Gloria: No, Mario! What I mean is, you wouldn't spend all your money when you know your
daughter may need some of it. You love her too much to do that.
(Mario sits down and buries his head in his hands. Gloria crosses to him and lays a hand on his
shoulder.)
Gloria: What's wrong, Mario?
Mario: (turns his face away) Nothing, Gloria, nothing.
Gloria: (sits beside him) I know something is wrong, Mario. I can feel it. Tell me what it is.
Mario: (stares at the ground) Gloria, I've lost my job.
Gloria: (rises, surprised) Oh, no!
Mario: (looks up at her) It's true, Gloria.
Gloria: What about your pay for the whole week?
Mario: I lost my job a week ago.
Gloria: And you never told me!
Mario: I thought I could get another without worrying you.
Gloria: Did you think you could get another job so quickly? It took you five months to get that
one.
Mario: It won't take me so long to get another.
Gloria: But how did you lose it?
Mario: (rises and turns away) What's the use of talking about it? That won't bring it back.
Gloria: (suddenly, in an agonized voice) Mario!
Mario: (turns around) Yes?
Gloria: Have your sinful fingers gotten you into trouble again?
Mario: Now, now, Gloria! Don't try to accuse me, as they did!
Gloria: What did they accuse you of?
Mario: Just what you meant to say. Pilfering, they call it.
Gloria: What else would you call it? What, according to them, did you steal?
Mario: (low) It was nothing much, really nothing at all.
Gloria: What was it?
Mario: It was an…an apple.
Gloria: An apple! You mean-
Mario: An apple! Don't you know what an apple is?
Gloria: You mean, you took one apple?
Mario: Yes, and they kicked me out for it. For taking one, single apple, not a dozen, not a crate.
Gloria: That's what you get for not stopping to think before you do something.
Mario: (sits down) Could I have guessed they would do that for one apple, when there were
millions of them? We were taking them to the warehouse. I saw one roll out of a broken crate. It
was that big. (demonstrates) It looked so delicious. Suddenly I found myself putting it in my
lunch bag.
Gloria: That's the trouble with you. When you think of your own stomach, you think of nothing
else.
Mario: (rises) I was not thinking of myself!
Gloria: Who were you thinking of, me? Did I ever ask you to bring home apples? I am not as
crazy as that.
Mario: I was thinking of our child.
Gloria: Tita? Why? Did she ever ask for apples?
Mario: Yes, she did. Do you remember that day I took her out for a walk? On our way home we
passed a grocery store that sold “Delicious” apples at seventy centavos each. She wanted one
apple but I could not buy it for her. I did not have seventy centavos. I felt terrible. I bought her
one of those green apples sold on the sidewalk, but she threw it away. She said they were not
“real” apples. Then she cried. So, when I saw that apple roll out of the broken crate, I thought
that Tita would love to have it.
Gloria: You should have tried to bring home pandesal,rice, or milk and not those “Delicious”
apples. We're not rich. We can live without apples.
Mario: Why? Did God create apple trees to bear fruit for the rich alone? Didn't He create the
whole world for everyone? That's why I tried to bring the apple home for Tita. When we brought
her into this world, we promised her everything. She has the right to have everything in life.
Gloria: So, for just an apple, you lost a job you need so much?
Mario: I wouldn't mind losing a thousand jobs for an apple for my daughter!
Gloria: Where is the apple you valued so much? It is here? (crosses to the bench to get the lunch
bag)
Mario: No, it isn't here. They kept it as evidence. (sits down)
Gloria: See? You lost your job trying to steal an apple and you also lost the apple!
(Gloria puts away the shoes and the lunch bag. She sits on the steps and remains silent for a
time.)
Gloria: (rises) Stealing an apple—that's too small a reason to kick a poor man out of work. You
should ask them to give you a second chance Mario.
Mario: They won't do that.
Gloria: Why not?
Mario: (rises) Can't you see they had been waiting for me to make a slip like that? They've
wanted to throw me out for any reason so they can bring in their own men.
Gloria: You should complain-
Mario: Suppose I did? What would they do? They would dig up my police record.
Gloria: (crosses to him) But Mario, that was so long ago! Why would they dig that up?
Mario: They'll do anything to keep me out! (Holds her by the arm.) But don't worry, I'll find
another job. It isn't really so hard to look for a job nowadays. (From this point he avoids her
eyes.) You know, I've been job-hunting for a week now, and I think I have found a good job.
Gloria: There you go lying again.
Mario: Believe me! I'm not lying this time.
Gloria: (crosses to center) You're always lying; I can't tell when you're telling the truth.
Mario: In fact, I'll see someone tonight who knows of a company that needs a night watchman.
Gloria: (holds his arm) Are you only trying to make me feel better, Mario?
Mario: No, Gloria.
Gloria: Honest?
Mario: (avoids her eyes) Honest! (sits down)
Gloria: (sighs happily, looks up) I knew God wouldn't let us down. I'll pray tonight and ask Him
to let you have that job. (Looks at Mario.) But, Mario, would it mean that you'd have to stay out
all night?
Mario: That would be all right. I can always sleep during the day.
Gloria: (brushes against him like a cat) What I mean is it will be different when you aren't by
my side at night. (Walks away from him.) Oh, but I think I'll get used to it. (Crosses to center,
turns around.) Why don't you go see this man right now? Anyway you don't have anything to do
tonight. Don't you think it's wise to see him as early as you can?
Mario: (after a pause) Yes, I think I'll do that.
(Gloria crosses to the steps to get his shoes, followed by Mario.)
Gloria: (hands him his shoes) Here Mario, put these on and go. I'll stay up and wait for you.
(Sits on the steps and watches him.)
Mario: (putting on the shoes) No, Gloria, you must not wait for me. I may be back quite late.
Gloria: All right, but I doubt if I sleep a wink until you return. (Gloria comes up to him after he
finishes and tries to hug him but he pushes her away. Suddenly confused, he sits on the steps.
Gloria sits beside him and holds his hands.)
Gloria: Mother was wrong about you. You know, before we got married, she used to tell
me,“Gloria, you'll commit the greatest mistake of your life if you marry that good-for-nothing
loafer! You can't make him any straighter than you could a crooked wire with your bare hands.”
Oh, I wish she were alive now, she would have seen how much you've changed! (She sees
someone behind the tree; Pablo. He has been watching them for a time. He is older than Mario,
evil-looking, and well dressed.)
Pablo: (sarcastic) Hmmm…How romantic!
Mario: (rises) Pablo!
(Suddenly weakened, Mario starts to fidget. There is an uncomfortable silence as Gloria rises and
walks to center, her eyes burning with hate. Pablo lights a cigarette, never taking his eyes off
her.)
Pablo: You're not glad to see me, are you ? (Puts a foot on the bench.)
Gloria: (angry) What are you doing here? What do you want?
Pablo: S-a-a-y…is that the way to receive a friend who has come to visit?
Gloria: We don't care for your visits!
Pablo: You haven't changed a bit, Gloria, not a bit.
Gloria: Neither have you, I can see!
Pablo: You're still that same woman who cursed me to hell because I happened to be Mario's
friend, even long before you met him. Time has not made you any kinder to me. You still hate
me, don't you?
Gloria: Yes! And I'll not stop hating you, not until you stay away from us!
Pablo: Am I not staying away from you?
Gloria: Then why are you here?
Pablo: God! Can't I come to see you now and then to see if life has been kind to you?
Gloria: (scornfully) We were doing well until you showed up!
Pablo: Your daughter…she was that high when I last saw her…how is she?
Gloria: (quickly) She's all right!
Pablo: Oh, I thought she had not bee very well.
Gloria: (suspicious) How did you know? (To Mario.) Did you tell him?
Mario: (stammering) I…no…how could I? I haven't seen him in a long, long time (sits down)
until now of course.
Pablo: What is she sick with?
Gloria: We don't know.
Pablo: Don't you think you should take her to a doctor? (Puts his foot down and pulls out his
wallet.) Here, I'll loan you a few pesos. It may help your daughter get well.
Gloria: (scornfully) We need it all right but, no thank you!
Pablo: Why don't you take it?
Gloria: Paying you back will only mean seeing your face again.
Pablo: Well, if you hate to see my face so much, you don't have to pay me back. Take it as a
gift.
Gloria: The more I should refuse it!
Pablo: All right, if that's how you want it. (Sits down and plays with the wallet.)
Gloria: Mario has stopped depending on you since the day I took him away from your bad
influence!
Pablo: Haven't you realized yet that it was a terrible mistake—taking him away from me?
Gloria: I have no regrets.
Pablo: How about Mario? Has he no regrets, either?
Gloria: He has none.
Pablo: How can you be so sure? When he and I were pals we could go to first-class, air-
conditioned movie houses every other day. I'll bet all the money I have here now (showing his
wallet) that he has not been to one since you “liberated” him from me. And that was almost four
years ago.
Gloria: One cannot expect too much from honest money, and we don't.
Pablo: (rises and walks about) What is honest money? Does it look better than dishonest money?
Does it buy more? And honesty? What is it? Dressing like that? Staying in this dungeon you call
a house? Is that what you so beautifully call honesty?
Mario: (rises) Pablo…
Pablo: (mockingly) See what happened to your daughter? That is what honesty has done to her.
And how can honesty help her now? She's not sick and she needs no medicine. You know that.
You know very well what she needs: good food! She's undernourished, isn't she?
Mario: Pablo!
Gloria: I know you have come to lead him back to you dishonest ways, but you can't. He won't
listen to you now! We have gone this far and we can go on living without your help!
Pablo: (sarcastic) You call this living? This, Gloria, is what you call dying, dying
slowly…minute by minute.(laughs)
Mario: (crosses to him and shakes him) Pablo, stop it! (Pablo stops.) You shouldn't have come.
Pablo: (brushes him off) I got tired of waiting for you!
Gloria: So you have been seeing each other! I was afraid so!
Pablo: He came to the house yesterday-
Mario: Pablo, don't-
Pablo: (ignoring Mario) -he said he would be back this noon. But he didn't show up. I came
because I was afraid his conscience was bothering him.
Mario: Pablo, I told you she should not know!
Pablo: It's all right, Mario, you'd better tell her everything. She's bound to know later. Tell her
what you told me: that you don't believe any more in the way she wanted you to live. Tell her.
(Mario turns his back on them.)
Gloria: (crosses to Mario) Mario! Is this what you meant by another job! Oh, Mario! You
promised me you were through with him. You said you'd go straight and never go back to that
kind of life.
Mario: (turns around and holds her arm, stammering) Gloria, you…you must try to
understand…I tried long and hard, but I could not get us out of this kind of life.
Gloria: (crosses to center and shouts at Pablo) You're to blame for this, you son-of-the-Devil!
You've come to him when you know he's down-
Pablo: He came to me first!
Gloria: -when you know he'll cling to anything and do anything! Even return to the life he hates!
(Crosses to him and strikes him.) Get out of our sight! Get out!
Pablo: (easily wards off her fists) All right, all right…I'll leave just as soon as Mario is ready to
go.
Gloria: He's not going with you! (Crosses to center.)
Pablo: Is that so? Why don't you ask him? (Sits on the bench, grinning.)
Gloria: (shouts) I said he's not going!
Pablo: (points to Mario) Go on, ask him.
Gloria: (turns to Mario) You're not going with him, are you Mario? Tell that crook you're not
going with him anywhere! Tell him to leave us and never come back! Tell him to go, please
Mario, please!
Mario: (holds her arm) Gloria…I…
Gloria: Mario, I know he has talked to you and tried to poison your mind again, but don't go
with him. This is still the better way of life. If things have not been turning out well, you must
know that God is not letting us down. He is only trying us.
Mario: (holds her) Gloria…I…
Gloria: (pulls away from him) You're going! I can see that you want to go with him!
Ohhhh…(cries) you'll leave me here again wondering whether you'll be…shot in the heart or
sent to jail!
Pablo: (behind the tree) Don't worry about him, Gloria, he's safe with me. He won't come
anywhere near jail. I've got connections.
Gloria: (rushes madly at him and claws his face) You hideous beast! You—get out!
Mario: (pulls her away) You stay there, Pablo. I'll be with you in a minute.
(Leads her to the steps.)
(Pablo fixes his clothes, cursing)
Mario: (firmly) Gloria. I'm going with him.
Gloria: Don't, Mario, don't!
Mario: You can't make me stop now, I've been thinking about this since last week.
Gloria: Mario…(holds fast to him)
Mario: (loosens her hold) You take care of yourself and our child and I'll take care of myself.
Don't wait up for me. (Mario walks away with Pablo. Gloria stares dumbly at them, then shouts.)
Gloria: Mario!
(She covers her face with her dress and cries into it. The daughter, from inside, joins her in
crying as the curtain falls.)

NEW YORKER IN TONDO

SCRIPT

(Marcelino Agana, Jr.)

A Recreation By Emilio Joaquin Flores

Directed and Written by Emilio Joaquin Flores

Literature 1

Main Characters:

Josiah Macadangdang as Tony

Blessie Buligan as Francesca a.k.a Kikay
Lester Sestina as Totoy
Nea Montalbo as Nena
Jecebelle Naurette as Mrs. Mendoza/ Aling Atang
Joseph Dichoso as Mr Mendoza/ Mang Roger

"Tony"
Tony is the sophisticated “Tondo Boy” of the story. He is one of the main characters. He is the lover of
Kikay and Nena both, making him a two timer. He is kind, sweet, friendly and caring to his friends
Portrayed by Josiah Oswald Macadangdang.

"Kikay"
“Kikay” or “Francesca” is the New Yorker in Tondo. Originally a Binondo girl but studied at New York to
learn more about Beauty and Hair Designs. She is a trying hard american, and forces her Mother to also
act like her. Her behavior changed when she came back from New York which her friends find really
strange. She is Tony’s Fiance.

"Nena"
Nena is Kikay’s long term BFF, until Kikay left for New York of course. She is another member of their
group, the tomboyish, demure but strong type of girl. She likes Tony but Totoy has a secret crush on her.
She is kind and true to her friends. Portrayed by Neya Montalbo.

"Totoy"
The original kanto/tondo/achupz boulevard boy. The prankster yet sensitive boy that always follows
nena where ever she goes. He is Tony’s bestfriend. He is kind, sweet, funny, sensitive, quite idiotic but
very loyal and true to his friends. Portrayed by Lester Sestina.

"Aling Atang"/Mrs. Mendoza

The ever caring Mother of Kikay, she is a true binondo girl and hates the way Kikay wants her to act as a
sophisticated american,. Her accent is a trying hard filipino-english accent. She is caring and loving to her
daughter and her daughter’s friends. Despises Totoy for being an imbecile but enjoys his company as
well. Portrayed by Jecebelle Navarette.

"Chumba"/Other Dancers
The “Kanto boys” of Tondo. They are Aling Atang’s Neighbors also known as the wannabe singers and
dancers that appear mostly on serious situations in their life to make their arguments more lively. They
are lead by Chumba, a singer and Dancer.

Recurring Characters:

Precious Flores as Jeanette (Kikay's Friend from the California)

Calvin Jestin as Jamal (Kikay's Friend from California)

Skit Characters:

-Binondo people who talk and sing like african americans

Marc Caliso as Chumba

Singers:

Dayjay Dannang
Vernie Reyes
Ralph Paguio
Alejandro Garcia III

Prologue

Francesca: All Riiight! Lets Party!

Jeanette: Cesca! Do you really have to go?

Francesca: Yes darling, but dont fret, im really going to miss you all
Jeanette: Dont you ever forget me dear!

Jamal: Where is your home again cesca?

Francesca: Its in Tondo, Manila

Jamal: Why do you want to go back? Stay here! Stay with us!

Jeanette: Whats the life of a party with out our dear francesca? Right Jamal?

Jamal: Were going to miss you Francesca

Francesca: I love you my friends! But for tonight, leets partyy!!

Scene 1

The parlor of the Mendoza house in Tondo. Front door is at right. Curtained
window is at left. Left side of stage is occupied by a rattan set –sofa and two
chairs flanking a table. On the right side of the stage, a cabinet radio stands
against a back wall. Open door-way in center, background, leads into the rest of
the house.

MRS. M: (As she walks toward the door) –Visitors, always visitors. Nothing but visitors all
day long. Naku, I’m beginning to feel like Kris Aquino!

(She opens door. Tony steps in, carrying a bouquet. Tony is 26, dressed to kill, and is the suave
type. Right now, however, he is feeling a trifle nervous. He starts slightly on seeing Mrs.
Mendoza.)

MRS. M : Oh! Ikaw pala Tony! Akala ko ba nasa probinsya ka?

TONY : (Startling) –Ikaw na ba iyan Aling Atang?!

MRS. M : ( Laughing) --- Oo naman Iho! Sino bang akala mo? Mukha na ba akong si Sharon Cuneta?
TONY : Di kasi kita namukhaan aling atang eh!

MRS. M : (shyly touching her boyish bob) – Nagpa salon lang ako, bakit? Pangit ba ang pagkagupit?

TONY : Ay hindi po! (Laughs) Akala ko nga ikaw na si Kikay eh.

MRS. M : (Playfully slapping his cheek) --- Ay nako Tony, napakapalikero mo parin. Iho, Pumasok ka, anu
ka ba naman.

(Enter Singers) “WELCOME WELCOME”

Chumba: Welcome Welcome! Welcome Welcome!

TONY: Sino ba yan sila, aling atang?

MRS.M: Hay nako, ang mga kapitbahay na wannabe singers, hayaan mo lang sila. Kumusta na ba ang
Nanay mo?

TONY : (As he sits down, still holding the bouquet) --- Hayun, Si nanay, namimiss na raw niya ang Tondo.
Gusto niyang bumalik rito

MRS. M : (Standing beside his chair, putting on an apron) – Eh ilang taon ka bang nawala?

TONY : tatlong buwan ho.

MR. M : Tatlong buwan! Kawawa naman si kumare, sigurado akong inip na inip na yon! Di talaga
nagbabago ang mga binondo girls iho.

TONY : Alam niyo naman kaming mga Engineers, kapag may trabaho, kunin agad! May proyekto ako sa
isang tulay sa Bulacan, pero pag natapos na ako, babalik kami agad dito sa Tondo

MRS. M : Dapat makabalik na siya dito agad agad! Matagal-tagal na rin kaming hindi naglalaro ng
Pangguingue
TONY : (Laughing) --- Namiss na din yan ni nanay

MRS. M : Naiintindihan ko siya Tony! Hinding hindi talaga magiging probinsyana si kumare. Once a
Tondo girl, always a Tondo girl (She
pauses, struck by a thought). Ewan ko lang kung totoo ba iyan. Look at my
Kikay; Nasa america siya ng isang taon, and she says that she
never, never felt homesick at all!

TONY : (Beginning to look nervous again) --- Kailan nga ba siya umuwi Tita? Si Kikay?

MRS. M : Noong Lunes Lang.

TONY : Hindi ko nga agad nalaman na nakadating na pala si Kikay. Nabasa ko sa newspaper eh.

MRS. M : (Plaintively) --- Noong lunes lang siya dumating, Tony and look at what has happened
to me! Nung nakita niya ako, napakagalit niya;Dinala niya ako sa isang beauty shop, and look, look what
she had
done to me! My hair is cut, my eyebrows are shaved, my nails are manicured,
and kung pupunta ako sa palengke naka lipstick and make up! Pinagtatawanan ako lahat ng mga kumare
ko! Baka kung anu ano na ang maisip nila sa akin! Pero ano na ang magawa ko? Alam mo naman tong si
Kikay. At sabi niya kailangan ko raw magmukhang amerikana dahil may anak raw akong americana. Dios
mio! Do I look like american to you?

TONY : (Too worried to pay much attention) --- Maganda ka parin Aling Atang, Asan na siya ngayon?

MRS. M : (who’s rather engrossed in her own troubles too) --- Sino?

TONY : Si Kikay? Nandito ba siya?

MRS. M : (Snorting) --- Oo naman, Hayun, Natutulog pa!

TONY : (Glancing at his watch) ---Natutulog?!

MRS. M : Sabi niya. (fake american accent) New York people do not wake up before twelve o’clock noon.
TONY : (Glancing at his watch once more) --- Eh mag aalas diyes na ah.

MRS. M : Alam mo naman ang batang yun, pag kadating niya dito, Puro nalang Party, Bar, Brewery,
Metro.Hybrid! Hay nako.

TONY : (Rising disconsolately) --- paki sabihan mo nalang na dumaan ako, at paki bigay nalang din nito

MRS. M : (Taking the flowers) --- Bakit? Aalis ka na ba agad? Eh kababata mo yun eh! Sandali lang,
gisingin ko lang siya.

TONY : Wag nalang ho Aling atang, babalik nalang po ako sa susunod

MRS. M : (Moving away) --- Hindi, hintayin mo siya diyan. Sigurado akong masiyahan siya na makita ang
kanyang kababata. And she’ll want to thank you in person for these flowers.
Napakaganda naman, Tony…. Mahal siguro ito, ano?

TONY : (Sitting down again) --- Ay, walang anu man po

MRS. M : (Pausing, already at center doorway) --- Oh, Tony …

TONY : ho, Aling Atang?

MRS. M : You mustn’t call me “Aling Atang.”

TONY : Bakit naman ho?

MRS. M : Kikay doesn’t like it. She says I must tell people to call me Mrs. Mendoza. She
says it’s a more civilized form of address. So … and especially in front of

Kikay…. You must call me Mrs. Mendoza.

TONY : Opo, Aling … I, mean yes, Mrs. Mendoza.

MRS. M : (Turning to go) --- Tatawagin ko na si Kikay

TONY : (To himself as he sits down) --- Hah!

MRS. M : (Turning around again) ---- Oh, and Tony …

TONY : (Jumping up again) --- Ano ho, Aling … I mean yes, Mrs. Mendoza.

MRS. M : You must not call Kikay, “Kikay.”

TONY : (Blankly) --- Eh anung tatawagin ko sa kanya?

MRS. M : You must call her Francesca.

TONY : Francisca?

MRS. M : Not Francisca … Fran…CES…ca.

TONY : Franc- Bakit Francesca?

MRS. M : She says that in New York, every body calls her Fran-CES-ca.
Do you know that many people in New York thought she was an Italian…an
Italian from California? Wag mong kalimutan Tony; do not call her Kikay, she
hates that name … call her Fran-CES-ca.

TONY : (Limply, sitting down again) --- Opo, Mrs. Mendoza.

MRS. M : (Turning to go again) – Maghintay ka diyan at tatawagin ko na si Fran-CES-ca. (Somebody

knocks at the front door. She turns around again.) Aie, Dios mio!

TONY : (Jumping up once again) – Ako na ho ang kukuha

(He goes to open the door.)

MRS. M : (As she exists) --- Sabihin mong mag antay sila iho
(Tony opens door and Totoy steps in. Totoy is the same age as Tony and is more clearly a
Tondo sheik. The one word that could possibly describe his attire is “spooting”. Both boys
extend their arms out wide on beholding each other.)

TOTOY : Tony!

TONY : Totoy! (They pound each other’s bellies.)

TOTOY : Tarantadong Talong!

TONY : Itlog Pula!

TOTOY : Mayroon ba tayo diyan?

TONY : Ikaw pa ang tatanong? Ilang bangko na ba ang na raid mo?

TOTOY : Hoy, hoy, dahan dahan ka Tony, baka ikaw ang nang r-raid ng bangko!

TONY : Impossible! Nagbago na ako, Goodboy na kaya ito.

TOTOY : (Arms around each other’s shoulders, they march across the room) ---
Make way for the Tondo boys … Bang! Bang!

TONY : (Pushing Totoy away and producing a package of cigarettes) Nice! …Oh, Yosi naman diyan.

TOTOY : (Taking a cigarette) – Akala ko ba nasa Bulacan ka?

TONY : Oo nga, Pumunta ako dito para kay Kikay

TOTOY : (As they light cigarette) --- Eh brad, bad news laging naririnig ko sa babaeng yun.
TONY : (Sinking into a chair) --- Ako nga din eh

TOTOY : (Sitting down too) --- sabi pa ng mga kapitbahay, Sisang Baliw na yun

TONY : Galing siya New York eh

TOTOY : Anung Ginawa niya dun?

TONY : Oh, nag aral ng Hair culture and beauty science. May diploma pa!

TOTOY : Naks naman! Haba ng hair naman ni kikay!

TONY : Ah tama, hindi na siya Kikay … she is Fran-CES-ca.

TOTOY : Fran-CES-ca?

TONY : Miss Tondo has become Miss New York.

TOTOY : Kikay, an American? Wag mo nga akong lokohin! Eh kilala na natin yun nung nagbebenta pa siya
ng kakanin eh! (Stands up and imitates a girl puto vendor) --- Puto kayo
diyan … bili na kayo ng puto.

TONY : (Laughing) – Naalala mo ba yung tinulak natin siya sa kanal?

TOTOY : Hahaha! Oo! Naalala ko panga hinabol pa niya tayo hanggang kabilang kanto

TONY : At ang lakas pang sumuntok!

TOTOY : (Fondly) --- Dear old Kikay!

(Knocking at the door. Totoy goes to open it. Enter Nena. Nena is a very well possessed young
lady of 24. )

NENA : Why, it’s Totoy!

TOTOY : (Opening his arms) --- Nena, my loves!

NENA : (Brushing him aside as she walks into the room) – and Tony too! Ano to? Empoy at Bobet
reunion?

TOTOY : (Following behind her) – Nandito kami para kay new yorker

NENA : Ako nga rin, nandito na ba siya?

TONY : Gingising pa siya ni Aling Atang

NENA : Gisingin? Bakit? Nanaghinip pa ba siya?

MRS. M : (Appearing in the center doorway) – Gising na siya, nagbibihis nalang. Good morning, Nena.
Good morning, Totoy.

(Totoy and Nena are staring speechless. Mrs. Mendoza is carrying a vase in which she has
arranged Tony’s flowers. She self-consciously walks into the room and sets the vase on the
table amidst the silence broken only by Totoy’s helpless wolf whistle.)

MRS. M : (Having set the vase on the table) –Well, Totoy? Well, Nena? I said good
morning. Bat ganyan kayo maka tingin?

Chumba: (Singing) Bakit kayo ganyan makatingin, super sexy naman ng ating bituin. Si Aling Atang,
pwede bang patikim

MRS M: Umalis nga kayo dito!

(CHUMBA AND GROUP EXITS)

NENA : Ikaw ba yan Aling Atang?

TOTOY : Anak ng Tortang Talong! Si Aling Atang! (He collapses into a chair)
TONY : To, di na siya si Aling Atang, siya na si Mrs. Mendoza

NENA : (Laughing) – Kinukurot kurot niyo po ako, Aling Atang, nung bata pa ako

MRS. M : You were a very naughty girl, always fighting with Kikay. You were all very
naughty children. (She points at Totoy) – Lalo na itong isang ito, laging nagnanakaw ng mangga sa aming
bakuran

TOTOY : Nariyan pa ba ang Manggahan?

MRS. M : Nandun pa sa likuran.

TOTOY : (Jumping up) – Nena! Pumitas tayo ng Mangga!

MRS.M : Subukan niyo, pipitasin ko rin yang mga tenga niyo , sige!

TOTOY: Joke lang po!

MRS. M : Ah Totoy, samahan mo ako sa kusina

TOTOY : Bakit?! Anung gagawin mo sa akin aling atang?!

MRS. M : Gago, magpapatulong ako magdala ng mga gamit

(Exits Mrs. Mendoza and Totoy. Left alone, Nena and Tony are silent for a moment. Tony
seated; Nena stands behind the sofa.)

NENA : Well, Tony?

TONY : Bat ka pa pumunta Nena?

NENA : Oh, bakit naman hindi?

TONY : Wala ko pa nakausap si Kikay.

NENA : Wala? Akala ko ba sasabihin mo na kung ano ang nangyari kagabi?

TONY : Di ko nakayanan Nena.

NENA : Oh, Tony, Tony!

TONY : (Irritated, imitating her tone) – Oh, Tony, Tony! Gamitin mo nga ang utak mo Nena! Hindi
madaling makipag break sa isang babae na tinanong mo para pakasalan!

NENA : (Belligerently) – Ano ba? Si Kikay o Ako?

Chumba: (Singing) Sinong pipiliin mo? Si Kikay o Ako...

NENA: PWEDE BA?!

(EXITS)

TONY : Ikaw siyempre. Ikaw ang mahal ko Nena

NENA : (Bitterly) –Ako nga ba? At engaged ka kay Kikay?

TONY : Matagal na yun Nena!

NENA : (Flaring up) – Pakshit mo Tony!

TONY : (Jumping up and following her) – Nena, Nena, you know I love you, only you!

NENA : (Whirling around to face him) – Bakit Tony? Bakit Mo ginawang tanungin ako para pakasalan kita
habang engaged ka pa kay Kikay?

TONY : Sana Hindi ko nalang sinabi sayo! Etong mapapala ko sa pagiging honest!
NENA : Honest! You call yourself honest? Getting me to fall in love with you when
you still belonged to Kikay?

TONY : She loved me at my worst. You had me at my best. Pero Binali wala niya lang yun. She chose to
break my heart, Baka kaya tayo iniiwan ng mga mahal natin kasi baka may darating na mas okay. Yung
taong hindi tayo sasaktan at paasahin.

NENA : (Sarcastically) – Kung hindi ka titigil sa One more chance na linyang yan baka ma sapak kita
hanggang mamula yang pisngi mo.

TONY : (Miserably) Sorry.

NENA : At sinabi mo pang secret ang ating engagement?!

TONY : Nalaman ko kasi pagkatapos na darating si Kikay

NENA : Pagod na ako sa mga sikreto Tony! Pagod na pagod na ako!

TONY : Hayaan mo munang kausapin ko si Kikay

NENA : Bilisan mo! Di ako makapag antay

TONY : Pero, paano ko siya makakausap ngayon?

NENA : May problema ba Tony?

TONY : Nandito si Totoy at Ikaw.

NENA : Gusto mo kaming umalis ni Totoy?

TONY : Hindi, hayaan mo lang akong makausap si Kikay ng Mag isa

NENA : Ako nang bahala kay Totoy.

(Totoy appears in the doorway with tray on his head; glasses and a pitcher are on a tray.)

TOTOY : (Sailing in) – Puto kayo diyan, bili na kayo ng puto…!

(Mrs. Mendoza appears in the doorway, carrying a plate of sandwiches.)

MRS. M : Listen everybody…Nandito na si Kikay…pero tawagin niyo siyang Fran-CES-ca.

(She moves away from the doorway and Kikay appears. Kikay is garbed in a trailing gown
trimmed with fur at the neck and hemline. From one hand she dangles a large silk handkerchief
which she keeps waving about as she walks and talks. In the other hand, she carries a very
long cigarette holder with an unlighted cigarette affixed. Kikay’s manner and appearance are
…to use a Hollywood expression …”chi-chi mad.”)

KIKAY : (Having paused a long moment in the doorway, hands uplifted in surprise and
delight) – Oh, hello, hello… you darling, darling people! (She glides into the room. Everybody else is too
astonished to move) Nena, my dear…but how cute
you’ve become! (She kisses Nena)And Tony, my little pal of the valley…how are
you? (She gives her hand to Tony) and Totoy…my, how ravishing you look. (She
walks all around the apprehensive Totoy) goodness, you look like a Tondo super production in
Technicolor! But sit down everybody…do sit down and let me look
at you. (Her three visitors sit down. She sees the tray with the glasses and
pitcher on the table and throws her hands up in amused horror.) Oh, mumsy,
mumsy!

MRS. M : Ano nanaman iha?

KIKAY : How many times must I tell you, mumsy dearest, never, never serve fruit
juice in water glasses!

MRS. M : Hindi ko mahanap yung mga basong gusto mo iha

KIKAY : (Approaching and kissing her mother) – Oh, my poor li’l mumsy…she is
so clumsy, no? But never mind, dearest; don’t break your heart about it.
Here sit down.

MRS. M : hindi, mamamalengke pa ako.

KIKAY : Oh, mumsy, don’t forget my celery. (to her visitors) – I can’t live without
celery. I’m like a rabbit…munch, munch all day.

MRS. M : Oh aalis na ako. Tony, ipa regards mo nalang ako sa mama mo iho okay?

KIKAY : (Gesturing make up) – and remember, mumsy…a little bloom on the lips,
a little bloom on the cheeks.

MRS. M : Oh, Kikay, kailangan pa ba?

KIKAY : Again, mumsy?

MRS. M : (Already in the center doorway) – Kailangan ko pa bang pinturahan tong mukhang to
Fran-CES-ca?

KIKAY : (Breaking into laughter and turning towards the others) – But how dreadfully she
puts it! Oh, mumsy, mumsy…what am I going to do with you?

MRS. M : (As she exits) – Ayoko na! Di ko na to makaya!

KIKAY : (Still laughing) – Poor mumsy, she’s quite a problem. (She waves her cigarette)
Oh, does anybody have a light?

(Totoy jumps up and gives her a light.)

KIKAY : Merci.

TOTOY : Huh? Merci? Si Totoy ito Kikay hindi si Mercy.

KIKAY : I said merci. That means thank you… in French.

TOTOY : (As he sits down) – Merci!

(Kikay poses herself on the arm of the sofa where Nena is sitting and sipping orange juice. The
two boys, also sipping juice and munching sandwiches, occupying the two chairs)
NENA : Kuwento ka naman tungkol sa newyork

KIKAY : (Fervently) – Ah, New York, New York! Are ypu ready for the most exciting, amazing and
romantic story ever?!

Chumba: (ENTERS) Amazing, Exciting, Romantic! (Blows flower petals)

TONY : Gaano ka ba katagal dun?

KIKAY : (In a trance) – 10 months, 4 days, 7 hours and 21 minutes!

TOTOY : (Aside to the others) – Andun pa siya. Actually wala pa siya umalis dun.

KIKAY : (With emotion choking her voice) – Yes, I feel as if I were still there, as though I
had never left it, as though I had lived there all my life. But I look around me (She
bitterly looks around her at the three gaping visitors) and I realize that no, no I’m
not there. I’m not in New York… I’m here, here!

KIKAY : (She rises abruptly and goes to window where she stands looking out) I’m home,
they tell me. Home! But which is home for me? This cannot be home because my
heart aches with home sickness. I feel myself to be an exile…yes, a spiritual
exile. My spirit aches for its true home across the sea. Ah, New York! My own
dear New York! (She is silent a moment, looking across the horizon, her arms
cross over her breast. Her visitors glanced uneasily at each other.)

NENA : (To others) – Sa tingin ko dapat umalis na tayo

TONY : Oo nga baka nakakadisturbo tayo

NENA : (With a languishing gesture) – hayaan natin siyang mag reminisce

TONY : (Glancing at the entranced Kikay) – Yan na ba ang babaeng nakasasama nating mag swimming sa
putikan noon?

TOTOY : (Crossing his arms over his chest) – Ah, New York! My own dear New York!
KIKAY : (Whirling around, enraptured) – Listen…oh listen! Now, in New York, it’s
springtime…it’s spring in New York! The daisies are just appearing in Central
Park and out in Staten Island the grass is green again. (With a little fond laugh)
Oh, we have a funny custom in New York…an old, old and very dear custom.
When spring comes around each year, we New Yorkers, we make a sort of
pilgrimage to an old tree growing down by the Battery. Oh, it’s an old tree. It’s
been growing there ever since New York was New York. And we New Yorkers,
we call it “Our Tree”. Every spring we go down to say hello to it and to watch its
first green leaves coming out. In a way, that tree is our symbol for New
York…undying immortal, forever growing and forever green! (She laughs and makes an apologetic
gesture) But please, please forgive me! Here I am going
sentimental and just mooning away over things you have no idea about. No, you
can’t understand this emotion I feel for our dear old tree over there in New York.

NENA : Naiintindihan kita Kikay! Ganun rin ang nafefeel ko sa ating tree

KIKAY : (Blankly) – Ating tree?

NENA : Ang mango tree natin girl! Naalala ko pa inaakyat natin at pinipitas natin ang mga manggang
hilaw at sina tony ang kumukuha ng mga mangga at kinain natin hanggang sasakit ang ating mga tiyan!

TOTOY : nahuli nga ako ni aling atang eh! Hinubaran niya pa ako ng shorts!

NENA : Oo nga eh! Tapos tumatakbo ka sa labas ng naka brief habang sinisigaw: “Ibalik mo shorts ko!”

(They were all shaking with laughter except Kikay who is staring blankly at this.)

KIKAY : Wait laang! Ano ba na tree ang pinag uusapan natin?

NENA : Our mango tree, Kikay. Yung mango tree sa inyong bakuran.

KIKAY : (Flatly) – Oh that tree…

TONY : bakit kikay? Hindi ba parehas ang nararamdaman mo para sa tree natin at sa tree mo sa new
york?

KIKAY : (Tartly) – Of course not! They…they’re completely different! I don’t feel any
emotion for this silly old mango tree. It doesn’t awaken any memories for me at
all!

NENA : (Rising) – Pero para sa amin, napakahalaga ng tree nayun. Lahat ng ka aliwan natin. Lahat ng
memories ng ating childhood Kikay! Ang tree na yun ay ang Symbol ng ating Friendship. TNTK?
Remember?

KIKAY : (Interrupting) – don’t be silly, Nena.

TONY : At ang nag salita!

KIKAY : (In amused despair) – Oh, you people can’t understand at all!

TONY : Of course not. Eh wala pa kami nakapunta sa New York eh.

KIKAY : (Earnestly) –- Exactly! Wala pa kayo naka punta sa Newyork! Our special tree over there is very
different!

KIKAY : It stands for Freedom and for the Manhattan skyline and for the Copacabana and
for Coney Island in summer and for Grant’s Tomb on Riverside Drive and for
Tuesday nights at Eddie Condons with Wild Bill Davidson working on that
trumpet of his and for Saturday nights at Madison Square Garden with the
crowds spilling all over the side walk and for the nickel ferry ride to Staten Island
and for the St. Patrick’s Day Parade down Fifth Avenue and for all (She stops,
overcome with her memories) Oh, it’s impossible to make you see!

TONY : Mas gusto ko parin ang tree natin sa Tondo

TOTOY : I second the motion

NENA : I move to close the nomination!

KIKAY : (Tolerantly, very much the woman of the world) – Oh you funny, funny children!

NENA : Mangungumusta lang ako sa tree namin, gusto mo ba akong samahan Kikay?

KIKAY : (Laughing) – Of course not, child. Do go.

NENA : Eh ikaw totoy?

TOTOY : (Fervently, as he rises) – Of Course my loves! Kahit saan ka man pumunta!

NENA : (In the Kikay manner) – No darling…just out to our dear little backyard.

TOTOY : (Acting up too) – Oh , the backyard of Tondo, the barong-barongs of Maypaho,

the streets of Sibakong…

NENA : (In the center doorway) – Hoy chong sasama ka ba o hindi

TOTOY : (Following her) – Sabi ko nga! Wait!

(Exits Nena and Totoy)

KIKAY : (Sitting down on the sofa) – Si Totoy talaga, hanggang ngayon head over heels parin kay nena
(Tony is silent) Hoy Tony, BV ka? Ano nanaman yang drama mo?

(Tony rises from his chair and sits down beside Kikay on the sofa. He is nervous and cannot
speak. Kikay smilingly gazes at him.)

TONY : (Finally gathering courage) – Kikay…Di ko alam san magsisimula

KIKAY : Just call me Francesca... Okay?
TONY : Meron kasi akong gustong sabihin
KIKAY : Tony, kalimutan na natin yun, matagal na yun. Please?
TONY : Kalimutan?
KIKAY : That’s the New York way, Tony. Kalimutan na natin yung past! Move on! Ano ka ba, dapat full ng
energy at go lang ng go! Enjoy life okay?
TONY : What do you mean Kikay?
KIKAY : Tony, bata pa tayo nun.
TONY : kailan?
KIKAY : Nung na engaged tayo!
TONY : Eh last year lang yun ah.
KIKAY : Para sa akin isang century na! Oh Tony, gusto ko pang magshare about New York, kung alam mo
lang kung gaano ka ganda ang Yankee Stadium! McLaren's Bar! Statue of Liberty! Wow, kung andun ka
Tony, ayaw mo na ding umalis sa sobrang ganda
TONY : Kikay, Kikay! Ayaw kong pag usapan ang newyork okay? Gusto kong pag usapan ay tayo, ano na
ba ang status natin? Tayo pa ba?
KIKAY : Tony please ayaw ko na. Ayaw ko nag pag usapan please, madami pa akong aasikasuhin.
TONY : Ano ba kikay? Tayo pa ba? Yes or No?
KIKAY : Tony.. Mahirap din mag sabi ng No Tony..... Yung babaeng nakilala mo, Si Kikay yun, Ang
babaeng kinakausap mo ngayon ay si Francesca. Ako pa sa iyo Tony, wag ka nang mag muni muni jan,
enjoy Life!~ Pero I imagine mo nga, A new yorker marrying a Tondo Boy! Haha! Nakatatawa!

TONY : (Blazing) – wait lang ha! Dahan dahan lang kikay..

KIKAY : (Very tolerantly) – Sorry kung na hurt kita okay? Hindi ko lang talaga ma imagine na tayong
dalawa..
TONY : (Leaping up) – Hindi ako uupo lang dito at insultohin nang ganun!
KIKAY : Tony! Relax chill! Breathe In.. Breathe out
People in New York don’t lose their temper.
TONY : (Shouting) – Ano ba ang gusto mo!? Maging mag kaibigan lang tayo? Hanggang dun lang?
KIKAY : Yes, Tony. Friends lang okay? Dont worry, madami pang babae jan sa labas. Malay mo, nariyan
lang siya sa Tabi tabi! You know?
TONY : (Waving his fist) – Kung hindi ka babae... sus!
KIKAY : Oh dahan dahan tony, hinding hindi ka susuntok ng babae.
NENA : Ano to? Tony?
KIKAY : Ah nena! Wala to, naguusap lg kami ni Tony
TOTOY : Ano ba naman yang pinag aawayan niyo?
KIKAY : Di kami nag aaway chong! We just decided were good as friends.
NENA : Totoo ba ito?
TONY : (Shouting) – Oo!
NENA : Oh good! Pwede na nating sabihin sa kanila
KIKAY : Sabihin na Alin?!
TOTOY : Anong ibig sabihin niya Tony?
NENA : (Taking Tony’s hand) –Tony and I are engaged.
KIKAY : (Rising) – Engaged!?
TOTOY : (At the same time) – Engaged!?
NENA : Oo! Isang buwan na kaming patagong engaged. In other words, Tony is my Fiancee
KIKAY : A month! (Fiercely, to Tony) – Tony?!
TONY : (Backing off) – Gustong sabihin sayo Kikay.. pero hindi mo ako pinagbigyan.
KIKAY : You Asshole! Ipriprito kita! SINUGBANG KABAYO!
NENA : Hoy Kikay! Dahan dahan ka sa pananalita mo ah! Fiance Ko yan! Akin siya! Akin siya!
KIKAY : Walang Sayo Nena, Akin lang ang Fiance ko!
NENA : Bakit kayo pa ba?!
KIKAY : Engaged pa siya sa akin bago siya naging engaged sayo! Ako Parin ang LEGAL FIANCEE
NENA : Hindi na nga kayo diba? Ikaw pa mismo ang nagsabi
KIKAY : Pero hindi ko ito alam! Hindi ko alam na meron na palang ahas na naglalandi landi sa aking
fiancee habang wala ako! At ikaw! You Bastard! (points at Tony)
TONY : (Backing off some more) – Oh remember kikay, Chill lang diba? Yung mga way ng new yorker?
KIKAY : I’ve never felt so humiliated in all my life! You sick fuck! Pinahiya mo ako!
NENA : (Blocking her way) – Sabi ko wag mo siyang saktan!
KIKAY : Wag kang pa hero hero jan nena! Akin parin si Tony, wala ko pa siya pinakawalan!
NENA : Mahiya ka naman You’re just being a bitch in the manger!
KIKAY : At ako pa ang mahiya?! stealing my man behind my back!
NENA : (Exploding) – ANO?! ANONG SABI MO?! Walang hiya ka!

TONY : (Keeping a safe distance) – Totoy! Totoy!

KIKAY : (To Totoy, as he approaches) – Ikaw Chong! Wag kang pasali sali dito o babatuhan kita!

TOTOY : Naku, lumabas din and pagka Tondo!

NENA : You Bitch!

KIKAY : Man-eater!

SPECIAL SCENE:

(EXBF PARODY SONG Nea Montalbo and Blessie Buligan- XGF by: Spongecola, Chito Miranda and Los
Magno)

(They grapple and stagger. Tony and Totoy rush forward to separate them and finally
succeeded but not before Kikay has socked Nena. Nena, infuriated, breaks away from Tony…who’s
dragging her away. and pounces on Kikay…whom Totoy is holding. Tony came
running but is too late to prevent Nena from socking Kikay. Kikay sags down in Totoy’s arms.
Tony pulls Nena away.)

TONY : (Furious) – bat mo siya sinaktan!

NENA : What? Siya ang nauna eh
TONY : Tingnan mo anong ginawa mo!
( Totoy has dropped the knocked-out Kikay on a chair.)
NENA : bat mo siya dinedefend? Bat ka galit sa akin?! TONY!?
TONY : SHUT UP!
NENA : I hate you! I hate you!
TONY : Shut up! Or Ill rip your mouth off!
TOTOY : (Deserting the reviving Kikay) – Hoy Tony! Wag mong salitaan ng ganyan si Nena
TONY : Wag kang makealam dito chong ha, wala kang kinalaman dito
NENA : Buti pa si Totoy, maalahanin sa akin.
TOTOY : (To Tony) – Wag mo nga siyang hawakan!
TONY : Sabi kong wag kang make alam!
(Totoy socks Tony. Tony drops to the floor.)
NENA : (Running to Totoy) – Oh Totoy, you’ve saved my life.
(Meanwhile, Kikay has run to Tony’s side.)
KIKAY : (Kneeling beside Tony) – Tony, Tony … gumising ka!
TONY : (Sitting up and brushing her hands away) – Umalis ka nga
(Kikay rises and haughtily moves away. Tony continues to sit on the floor, in the attitude of
Rodin’s “Thinker”.)
NENA : Totoy, umalis na nga tayo dito
TOTOY : (Pointing to Tony) – Engaged ka pa ba sa kanya?
NENA : Ayaw ko na sa kanya! I hate him! Ayaw ko na siyang makita ever!
TOTOY : Good! Tara na Nena, umalis na tayo
(He takes her arm and propels her to the door.)
TONY : (As they pass him) – Hey!
NENA : (Pausing) – Wag mo nga akong kausapin
TONY : (Still sitting on the floor) – Di ikaw ang kinakausap ko
TOTOY : Wag mo rin akong kausapin! Ininsulto mo ang mahal kong si Nena!
NENA : (Beaming up at him) – Totoy? Mahal mo ako?
TOTOY : (Shyly) – Well... Yes Nena. Im in love you. I know that love is just a shout out unto that void and
oblivion is inevitable, and I am Inlove with you..
NENA: Always?
TOTOY: Always.
TONY : (Still on the floor) – Congratulations!
NENA : (Coldly) – Halika na chong, umalis na tayo dito
(Exit Nena and Totoy. Tony rises and dusts himself. Kikay is on the floor on the other side of the
room, her haughty back to him.)
TONY : Sinira mo na ang buhay ko. Sana masaya ka na.
KIKAY : (Whirling around) – I... have ruined your life? You…have ruined mine!
TONY : (Advancing) – Kailangan mo pa ata ng isang sampal ah.
KIKAY : (Retreating) – Wag mo akong lapitan, kanto boy! Bat mo yun ginawa? I deserve an Explanation!
TONY : You demand? Isang taon kang nawala, nakalimutan mo na ang mga kaibigan mo, I deserve an
explanation. I deserve an ACCEPTABLE REASON!
KIKAY : TUMIGIL KA NA SA KAKAGAYA MO SA MGA PINOY FILMS! HINDI KA BAGAY!
Oo nga, One year. Naghintay rin ako Tony, I believed you! And you backstabbed me like a little bitch! I
believed you... (Crying)
TONY : What are you crying about? Be brave…forget…that’s the New York way. Nothing
must ever be too serious, nothing must ever drag on too long…
KIKAY : Oh Tony, I’ve been such a fool! I’m so sorry, Tony!
TONY : Ako hindi! Mabuti nalang nalaman kong anung klaseng tao ka!
KIKAY : (Alarmed, approaching him) – Oh, Tony, you’re wrong, you’re wrong! Hindi ako ganung
klaseng tao, please maniwala ka Tony.
TONY: Nag sasabi ka na ba ng totoo ngayon kikay?
KIKAY : Oo Tony, ang babaeng nakausap mo kanina, Si Francesca yun! Ang Bitchy new yorker! Si Kikay na
ito Tony, Nag balik na si Kikay...
TONY : Kikay? Naka suot ng ganyan?
KIKAY : It’s true, Tony. I’m Kikay…remember me?
TONY : Kung tama ako, I was engaged to a girl named Kikay.
KIKAY : Oo! and you’re still engaged to her, Tony.
TONY : Welcome home, Kikay! Kumusta ang trip?
KIKAY : Nakakaloka! Hindi ako makapa antay na umuwi!
TONY : Nagustuhan mo ba ang Newyork?
KIKAY : Uh-Uh! I love Tondo!
TONY : Bat d ka mag rep sa mga PM ko sa Fb? Tweets ko sa Twitter? Posts ko sa IG?
KIKAY : (After just a wee pause) – Wala ako pina contact ni Francesca sa iyo eh.
TONY : That misty girl. Buti nalang wala na yung babaeng iyon
(Offstage Mrs. Mendoza is heard calling “ Francesca, Francesca.” Tony and Kikay listen, then
burst into laughter.)
MRS. M : (Appearing in doorway) – Frances…Oh, Tony, andito ka pa? Francesca,
don’t be angry but I couldn’t live without it!
TONY : (Moving towards the radio) – Si Francesca ho yun, at Patay na si Francesca. Si Kikay na po yan
Aling Atang
MRS. M : (Dazed) – But Kikay is Francesca…
KIKAY : Oh no, Inay. Hindi ako si Francesca…I’m Kikay!
MRS. M : (After gazing from on to the other, throwing her hands up.) – I GIVE UP!
(Exits)
(Tony and Kikay burst into laughter. They have turned on the radio. It’s playing “Say Something)
TONY: Can I have This Dance?

KIKAY: With Pleasure darling

----End----