(English translation of “Ang Pagiging Babae ay Pamumuhay sa Panahon ng Digma”)

To be a woman
Is to live
At a time of war.

I grew up with fear beside me,
Uncertain of a future
Hinged
To the men of my life:
Father, brother,
Husband, son.

To be a mother
Is to look at poverty’s face.
For the cruelty of war
Lies not on heads that roll,
But tables always empty.
How does one look for food
For the eldest,
As a baby sucks at one’s breast?

No moment
Is without danger.
At home,
To speak, to defy,
Is to challenge violence itself.
On the street,
Walking at nightfall
Is to invite a stranger’s attack.
In my country,
To fight against oppression
Is to lay down one’s life for the struggle.

I seek to know this war.
To be a woman is a never ceasing struggle
To live and be free.

* The author is a renowned poet, playwright, critic and author of landmark literary and scholarly books on women empowerment, activism, human rights and theatre. She is a homegrown scholar and professor from the University of the Philippines-Diliman. She is currently an academic staff at the University of California-Berkeley. As a public intellectual, Dr. Joi Barrios is actively engaged in the community work of BAYAN Women’s Desk, May First Movement, Karapatan and the Congress of Teachers/Educators for Nationalism and Democracy (CONTEND).