Melchor Cichon is the head librarian of the College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, University of the Philippines in the Visayas. He is also a poet, whose work has been recognized by the Unyon ng mga Manunulat sa Pilipinas, from which he received the Gawad Pambansang Alagad ni Balagtas in 2001.
He has promoted Aklanon literature not just through his writing, but also by setting up a website. Now that blogging has become easier than managing a website, Cichon maintains several blogs including Events in My Life (personal), Dawn to Dawn (literary), and Profile of Filipino Fisheries Scientists (professional).
For more information on Cichon, see his bio on Panitikan.com.ph, and "An Aklanon Poet" by Peter Solis Neri (Panay News, 1 March 2006). He has a photo on his blog, but it is, perhaps, more appropriate to share one of his poems.
A Letter
by Melchor F. Cichon (1994)
John,
I will definitely go home
To our house
Where we can see the clouds
Through the roof.
I'm fed up
With the twinkling neon lights,
But I have not yet paid
For the earrings that I got
From Mama San.
I need them so my tinkling
Will be louder and my hips
Will be heavier.
Don't worry, John,
This Christmas
You and I will create a moon
And through the roof
We two alone
Will grasp its light.
Ana
Category: Librarians
