{"id":6497,"date":"2026-03-16T14:52:37","date_gmt":"2026-03-16T06:52:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bangsamororeview.com\/main\/?p=6497"},"modified":"2026-03-16T15:06:03","modified_gmt":"2026-03-16T07:06:03","slug":"before-it-belongs-to-the-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bangsamororeview.com\/main\/before-it-belongs-to-the-world\/","title":{"rendered":"Before it belongs to the world"},"content":{"rendered":"

Nathara Mugong<\/em><\/p>\n

I sat by the pantan, pen in hand,
\naaaa<\/span>beside me, Kakah holding her silence.<\/p>\n

In that quiet,
\na<\/span>the sea spoke first\u2014
\na<\/span>in the creak of wood,
\na<\/span>in the wind threading through the ropes,
\na<\/span>in the tired hands that had known
\na<\/span>the water longer than words.<\/p>\n

\u201cTeinga leh nu mag tagna?\u201d
\naa<\/span>How do you begin?<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cMba,\u201d she said. I don\u2019t.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cNi lagaran leh ku tatammu leh pallat ya labayan na padeyom,”
\naa<\/span>I wait for the salt to find its way in,<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cMba kow ka igal subey du ya gaba paloros min lapis kuwit nu.\u201d
\naa<\/span>You cannot dance until the tide flows beneath your skin.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cBang aku song-song usik, wal kulluk du ya,\u201d
\naa<\/span>If I move too soon, it is only a form,<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cBang lagaran ku sampey aku ponno, minjari ya kissa.\u201d
\naa<\/span>If I wait until I am full, then it becomes a story.<\/em><\/p>\n

My eyes fell on the page\u2014
\nwhite, unyielding,
\nwaiting for what I could not yet name.<\/p>\n

Ni sulayan leh ku ni saggow dilaut ma saga bissara,
\naa<\/span>I try to catch the sea in languages,<\/em><\/p>\n

sah saga himungmungan bate na saga key-key
\naa<\/span>but the words are like empty shells.<\/em><\/p>\n

Kakah smiled.
\nShe lifted her palm to the sky,
\naa<\/span>curving like a wave,
\naa<\/span>paused just before it breaks.<\/p>\n

\u201cSabab pasal\u201d
\naa<\/span>that is because,<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cyani sulat leh nu ya bohe.\u201d
\naa<\/span>you are writing about the water.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cPaharok.\u201d Stop.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cKissahun angan mag napas ma deyo ta.\u201d
\naa<\/span>Feel the reef breathing beneath us.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cKissahun paddi ya selopen ma ungus.\u201d
\naa<\/span>Feel the ache of plastic in the sand.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cKissahun lihan lepa umbo nu.\u201d
\naa<\/span>Feel the ghost of your grandfather\u2019s boat.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cPakarulin paharok ma asangnu sampey agon ngamanas takissa nu\u201d
\naa<\/span>Let it sit in your lungs until it burns.<\/em><\/p>\n

She moved her wrist\u2014
\naa<\/span>a circle, a ripple,
\naa<\/span>the lift of a wing.<\/p>\n

\u201cBey bowa ku igal iti min subu,\u201d
\naa<\/span>I carried this dance all morning.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cIti ya buhat ma baha ku.\u201d
\naa<\/span>A weight in my shoulders.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cYa limbung ma laha ku.\u201d
\naa<\/span>A secret in my blood.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cTenaan, ni palappa na adja leh ku.\u201d
\naa<\/span>Now, I am only letting it out.<\/em><\/p>\n

I closed my eyes.
\na<\/span>Stopped looking at the horizon.
\na<\/span>Listened to my heart
\naaa<\/span>keeping time with the waves.<\/p>\n

\u201cSubey dusab maka bakat-atey diki-diki.\u201d
\naa<\/span>It has to hurt a little,<\/em> I said, my pen touching the page.<\/p>\n

\u201cAtawa subey dusab maka uli diki-diki.\u201d
\naa<\/span>Or it has to heal a little,<\/em> she replied,
\naa<\/span>arms wide enough to hold the sea.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaingkan subey kau ya rapu dahu humbo ya dunya.\u201d
\naa<\/span>But it must be yours first before it belongs to the world.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cPasorun ni deyom baran nu,\u201d
\naa<\/span>Absorb it fully into your body,<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cpaluwasun min tangan nu\u201d
\naa<\/span>release it through your hands.<\/em><\/p>\n

May you always
\naaaa<\/span>be open enough to feel
\nand your hands
\naaaa<\/span>bold enough to create.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nathara Mugong I sat by the pantan, pen in hand, aaaabeside me, Kakah holding her silence. In that quiet, athe sea spoke first\u2014 ain the creak of wood, ain the wind threading through the ropes, ain the tired hands that … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6497","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-poetry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":false,"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bangsamororeview.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6497","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bangsamororeview.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bangsamororeview.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bangsamororeview.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bangsamororeview.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6497"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/bangsamororeview.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6497\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6503,"href":"https:\/\/bangsamororeview.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6497\/revisions\/6503"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bangsamororeview.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6497"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bangsamororeview.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6497"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bangsamororeview.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6497"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}