Rappin' With Ten Thousand Carabaos in the Dark (Expanded Edition)
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9780934052535
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Author: Al Robles
EXPANDED EDITION WITH A FORWARD BY TONY ROBLES
AND ESSAY BY AL ROBLES
Pub Date:11/30/2020
Publisher: UCLA Asian American Studies Center
Product Number: 9780934052535
Binding:PAPERBACK
Pages:158
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Description
Originally published in 1996, RAPPIN' WITH TEN THOUSAND CARABAOS IN THE DARK is a collection of poetry by the late Al Robles, the quintessential Pilipino American poet, , and co-founder of the Kearny Street Workshop in San Francisco.
In this new expanded edition that also commemorates UCLA AASC's 50th anniversary, the book includes a forward by Tony Robles, as well as a classic essay by Al Robles from Amerasia Journal. Described by Ishmael Reed as "a journey into the heart of Pilipino soul," Robles's poetry reflected his power as a storyteller and his own activism. It includes glimpses into the lives of the elderly Pilipino Manongs, whose stories and lives he documented.
Excerpts:Preface to 1996 Edition by Russell Leong
One moist morning in Watsonville, California, Al Robles, Luis Syquia and I were walking alongside the strawberry fields. The air smelled of fruit waiting to be picked. After picking a few strawberries off the vine to eat, Al told us this story: "Some Pilipinos asked me what part of the Philippines I came from. And I told them Jackson and Kearny Streets. And they said, 'Where's that?' And I said, 'Close to Ifugao Mountain.' They turned away, still puzzled."
And so the mystery and history, the struggle and promise of becoming a Pilipino in America can be found in the poetry of Al Robles—oral historian, artist and community poet. Perhaps no one has listened as closely to the voices of the Pilipino American community during the last thirty years, painstakingly recording the stories of first-generation Pilipino manongs who immigrated to Hawaii and to the Western United States. In his creative work, Al has reclaimed a community history for us all—Pilipino, Chinese, Japanese, and new immigrant alike. His community, though mainly Pilipino American, is inclusive. His poetry is inhabited by farm laborers, factory workers, Zen monks, pool hustlers, cooks, children, lovers, gamblers, preachers, warriors, pimps, prostitutes, young bloods, musicians, tricksters, barbers, stray Buddhas and goddesses. To each, he has given a blue note, a lyric refrain and a promise to remember.
Table of Contents:Foreword - "Still Hanging onto the Carabao's Tail" by Tony Robles
"As a Poet" by Al Robles
I. TAGATAC IN IFUGAO MOUNTAIN
Tagatac in Ifugao Mountain
A Thousand Pilipino Songs: Ako Ay Pilipino
Agbayani Village
International Hotel Night Watch
Manong Federico Delos Reyes and His Golden Banjo
Manong Jacinto Santo Tomas
Manong Camara
Benito Milliano, the Rice Cake Manong
Uncle Victor, the Forgotten Manong
Manong Felix
The Hawaiian Sugarcane Wild Boar Manong
The Wandering Manong
Taxi Dance
Manong O'Campo
Bataan Bar in Delano
Jurimentado Blues in Reno
Guadalupe: "Come To Me My Melancholy Baby"
Carlos Bulosan: Pilipino Poet
II. BACK TO THE LAND
Back to the Land
Hidden Forest Sanctuary
Jedediah Smith Redwoods
Traveled North to the Woods Humboldt to Oregon—Washington Pacific Northwest Cascades
Boyang the Wandering Recluse
Kenji Miyazawa, the Sad Poet
Sakurai Takamine, the Wandering Kyushu Mountain-Sake Hobo
Ryōkan—The Crazy Snow Poet
A Mountain-Toilet Thief
Hunting for Bamboo
Sushi-Okashi and Green Tea with Mitsu Yashima
Meeting the Poet Luis Syquia on the Fourth Month Thirteenth Day One Thousand
Nine-Hundred-Eighty-Nine
Mary Tall Mountain
Wandering North to Alaska
Winter Rain Yum Cha with Gin San
Cheuk Heuk Returns to Hong Kong One More Time
Over Etang's House for Talong
Hop Jok Fair
Poor Man's Bridge/Portsmouth Square
III. CHINATOWN BLUES FOR BLUES POETS
Chinatown Blues for Blues Poets
Jazz of My Youth
Fillmore Black Ghetto
Rebirth of Wounded Knee
It Was A Warm Summer Day
Olongapo
Tiao-yu Tai Islands
Rappin' with Ten Thousand Carabaos in the Dark
Asian Center
Yukio Mishima 48 Ronin
Visiting the Grave of Edwardo Bedajos
From the Poet's Place
Ode to Bill Sorro
IV. "Hanging on to the Carabao's Tale" by Al Robles from Amerasia Journal
Note on the Expanded Edition by Karen Umemoto
Originally published in 1996, RAPPIN' WITH TEN THOUSAND CARABAOS IN THE DARK is a collection of poetry by the late Al Robles, the quintessential Pilipino American poet, , and co-founder of the Kearny Street Workshop in San Francisco.
In this new expanded edition that also commemorates UCLA AASC's 50th anniversary, the book includes a forward by Tony Robles, as well as a classic essay by Al Robles from Amerasia Journal. Described by Ishmael Reed as "a journey into the heart of Pilipino soul," Robles's poetry reflected his power as a storyteller and his own activism. It includes glimpses into the lives of the elderly Pilipino Manongs, whose stories and lives he documented.
Excerpts:Preface to 1996 Edition by Russell Leong
One moist morning in Watsonville, California, Al Robles, Luis Syquia and I were walking alongside the strawberry fields. The air smelled of fruit waiting to be picked. After picking a few strawberries off the vine to eat, Al told us this story: "Some Pilipinos asked me what part of the Philippines I came from. And I told them Jackson and Kearny Streets. And they said, 'Where's that?' And I said, 'Close to Ifugao Mountain.' They turned away, still puzzled."
And so the mystery and history, the struggle and promise of becoming a Pilipino in America can be found in the poetry of Al Robles—oral historian, artist and community poet. Perhaps no one has listened as closely to the voices of the Pilipino American community during the last thirty years, painstakingly recording the stories of first-generation Pilipino manongs who immigrated to Hawaii and to the Western United States. In his creative work, Al has reclaimed a community history for us all—Pilipino, Chinese, Japanese, and new immigrant alike. His community, though mainly Pilipino American, is inclusive. His poetry is inhabited by farm laborers, factory workers, Zen monks, pool hustlers, cooks, children, lovers, gamblers, preachers, warriors, pimps, prostitutes, young bloods, musicians, tricksters, barbers, stray Buddhas and goddesses. To each, he has given a blue note, a lyric refrain and a promise to remember.
Table of Contents:Foreword - "Still Hanging onto the Carabao's Tail" by Tony Robles
"As a Poet" by Al Robles
I. TAGATAC IN IFUGAO MOUNTAIN
Tagatac in Ifugao Mountain
A Thousand Pilipino Songs: Ako Ay Pilipino
Agbayani Village
International Hotel Night Watch
Manong Federico Delos Reyes and His Golden Banjo
Manong Jacinto Santo Tomas
Manong Camara
Benito Milliano, the Rice Cake Manong
Uncle Victor, the Forgotten Manong
Manong Felix
The Hawaiian Sugarcane Wild Boar Manong
The Wandering Manong
Taxi Dance
Manong O'Campo
Bataan Bar in Delano
Jurimentado Blues in Reno
Guadalupe: "Come To Me My Melancholy Baby"
Carlos Bulosan: Pilipino Poet
II. BACK TO THE LAND
Back to the Land
Hidden Forest Sanctuary
Jedediah Smith Redwoods
Traveled North to the Woods Humboldt to Oregon—Washington Pacific Northwest Cascades
Boyang the Wandering Recluse
Kenji Miyazawa, the Sad Poet
Sakurai Takamine, the Wandering Kyushu Mountain-Sake Hobo
Ryōkan—The Crazy Snow Poet
A Mountain-Toilet Thief
Hunting for Bamboo
Sushi-Okashi and Green Tea with Mitsu Yashima
Meeting the Poet Luis Syquia on the Fourth Month Thirteenth Day One Thousand
Nine-Hundred-Eighty-Nine
Mary Tall Mountain
Wandering North to Alaska
Winter Rain Yum Cha with Gin San
Cheuk Heuk Returns to Hong Kong One More Time
Over Etang's House for Talong
Hop Jok Fair
Poor Man's Bridge/Portsmouth Square
III. CHINATOWN BLUES FOR BLUES POETS
Chinatown Blues for Blues Poets
Jazz of My Youth
Fillmore Black Ghetto
Rebirth of Wounded Knee
It Was A Warm Summer Day
Olongapo
Tiao-yu Tai Islands
Rappin' with Ten Thousand Carabaos in the Dark
Asian Center
Yukio Mishima 48 Ronin
Visiting the Grave of Edwardo Bedajos
From the Poet's Place
Ode to Bill Sorro
IV. "Hanging on to the Carabao's Tale" by Al Robles from Amerasia Journal
Note on the Expanded Edition by Karen Umemoto