The Nipa Hut - A Living Memory

Dr Abe V Rotor

The Nipa Hut - A Living Memory

Take me under your thatched roof away from the aircon room,

Let me lie on your slatted floor, not on a bed of foam; 

Let me see the world through your windows and open door,

And hear the crickets in the dark, the birds at dawn. 

Take me away from the city, and lead me back to my home,

Away from the busy lane, to where an old road

Ends to the open where the fields are a vast of brown and green;

Lead me to the legends the old folks once told.   

Take me to Nature I've long missed in my youthful years,

When the monsoon surrenders to the golden grain, 

A rooster crows to herald the dawn atop your nipa crown,

That rustles in sweet notes with the breeze and rain. 

Take me back where dreams are born, where they grow,

Where one day, like the river flowing down to the sea,

Take many a  child to where the world lies in hope and obscurity;

To return or not, you remain in him a living memory. ~

Bahay Kubo version with home garden (Painting in oil by author)

 

Tree house, Rosario La Union

 Garden hut, Florida Blanca, Pampanga

Typical Nipa Hut, Florida Blanca Pampanga

Nipa Hut at IRRI Museum, Los Baños, Laguna

Nipa house and cottage for handicraft and storage (back), 
San Juan, Ilocos Sur

 Nipa Hut for stage play, SPU Quezon City

Floating Nipa Hut, Bohol