A Tongatong is a bamboo percussion instrument used by the people of Kalinga to communicate with spirits during house blessings. It is made of bamboo cut in various lengths. When you hit it against soft earth a certain drone reverberates though the instrument’s open mouth. When an entire set of Tongatong is played in interloping rhythm and prolonged with the tribal chanting, it could put the audience and the dancers in a trance.
Cruel, how the stick could lure
hands like mine to grip, hit
and bounce the stick
against soft earth,
open, close the mouth:
sound coming out
as we heave our sighs
droning through the skies,
chanting spirit calls, luring,
ruling what comes rolling
through the tongue, dialectic
twisting of the lung’s wind
with the tongue’s devil dancing,
devil dancing: you, feet, floating
from the ground, bronze limbs
posing for a flight, i could not breathe,
could merely hit, fixed, sitting
on your ground, waiting till
your dancing stops.
Cruel, how the stick could lure
hands like mine to grip,
hit and crack the stick
against my city’s paved concrete
open, close the mouth,
bamboo crying doubt.
