Ricky Lee's Ang Bahay ni Marta and My poem An Old House from Specks Anthology

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Melodramatic with tempered magical realism, Ang bahay ni Marta is a nice read and not that demanding for one's time because it is just a small thin book. As at any other times, Ricky Lee emphasizes the obligation of a writer/storyteller/everyone to tell the story so we won't forget.

And it is not just a storytelling of an anecdote but of one's history. Given the background of Ricky Lee as an activist imprisoned during the Marshal law where he went to the point of committing suicide, I believe it is our obligation to not forget how we fought for democracy, we should not forget the times it was violated. The tangible house of Marta may be dismantled but once the story is told, it is still intact in our consciousness and we will never never forget what happened inside the house, to our nation.

I am happy to discover that I liked reading this book and Ricky Lee's Para Kay B and Kung Alam Nyo Lang because even when I was in high school, I don't read Tagalog romances which was definitely in abundance and I liked Archie and Nancy Drew though they're so scarce then. Maybe I liked the depth of Ricky Lee's writing that I was engaged. He improvises some storytelling styles and it oftentimes surprises me.



Lastly, I would like to mention that Ang Bahay Ni Martha reminds me of my poem concerning an old house. What if an old house can tell secrets? I composed An Old House at the time when I was so inspired as I was planning to publish a birthday collection of my poems. We visited Balay Daguinot in La Castellana, actually, the house is just made of old lumbers and everything inside has wood or wood-accented  while approaching the house from the long courtyard, I imagined what if this house has some secrets... and then the poem was born days after that. So, here, I am sharing to you page 60 of my poem anthology, Specks. 

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