Hereunder is one of my poems in iluko language published in KALLAUTANG, poetic of diversity, displacement, and diaspora: ilokanos in the americas writing which was translated in English and with a critical introduction by Aurelio S. Agcaoili, a writer, a poet, and one of the professors in the University of Hawaii.
Iluko Version:
AGKAK KOMA ‘TA SIDING
Kayatko a pinasen nga agkan 1 Ta agpammannimid a siding Iti ngarab dayta a bibig; siding A kas tumamtammidaw nga init Iti agsapa iti ngatuen ti apagukrad A petalo ti nalabaga a hibiscus Ngem napaidam dagiti ramay 2 Ti rabii ta agtukeng a mangilukat Iti ridaw ni ridep A nagsampagaan ti minuyongam Ngem uray no kasta 3 Agur-urayak latta Iti lukib dagiti nakakidem A matak, umis-isem a mangkepkepkep Iti agdadagsen nga arapaap A sika ken siak Agpapasto iti duayya dagiti singin a giteb Ti naginnakkub a barukong iti siled Ti saan nga agpatingga a tagainep.
English Version of the above iluko poem:
I WISH TO KISS YOUR MOLE
I wish to kiss smoothly 1 Your mole that looks out On the edge of your lip; mole
That is like a sun taking a peek
In the morning on the newly-
Opened petal of the red hibiscus
But the fingers of the night 2
Are selfish for they hesitate
To open the door of sleep
Where the orchard bloomed
With flowers
But despite this 3
I will wait in the eyelid
Of my closed eyes
Smiling while holding tight
My pregnant dream
That you and I shall be satiated
By the lullaby of the entwined throbbing
Of chests in an embrace
In the room of an endless sleep.
