This Tagalog poem was written by Filipina poet Emelita Perez Baes to her mom. It is a poem by a daughter about a mother on her 59th birthday.
Poem: Kay Inay (To Mom)
Tula para sa ina…
Emelita Perez Baes
Mga tula ni Emelita Perez Baes
Poem: Kay Ama (To Father)
Father’s Day this year (2025) is on Sunday, June 15th.
Here is a Tagalog poem dedicated by Emelita Perez Baes to her father.
Tanaga, the Filipino Haiku
The Filipino equivalent of a Japanese haiku is tanaga.
In Philippine literature, a tanaga is a poem consisting of four lines with each line equally having between seven and nine syllables. To compare, the Japanese haiku has 17 phonetic units divided into three phrases of 5, 7 and 5 units respectively.
These short poems do not have any titles, although the apparent theme is used to refer to it. Most are written in Tagalog, the basis of the Filipino national language.
Mga Tanaga (Maiikling Tula)
Very short Tagalog poems
Mga Halimbawa ng Tanaga
Ang katoto kapag tunay
hindi ngiti ang pang-alay
kundi isang katapatan
ng mataus na pagdamay.
(KAIBIGAN)
ni Emelita Perez Baes
Palay siyang matino,
Nang humangi’y yumuko;
Nguni’t muling tumayo
Nagkabunga ng ginto
(PALAY)
ni Ildefonso Santos
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