PART
III—BESTOF2WORLDS
BESTOF2WORLDS
(ALBERTO FLORENTINO, publisher)
» The
Family with Chocolate Hair, stories
& poems by Tala Kernan*
» A Little Town Called Abby,
stories & poems by Amihan Kernan**
» New Writings, by Amihan
& Tala Kernan
» AMIHAN & TALA: Two Young Fil-Americans Grow up
in Oregon
» AMIHAN & TALA: Two Young Fil-Americans Make It in Oregon
* One of 3.1 million (adult) poets in Data Base of
world poetry of the
same
society.
* To be featured
in 2 websites for Filipino American writers in diaspora.
** To be featured in 2 websites for Filipino American writers
in diaspora.
** One of 1500 (adult) poets whose poems were included in the International
Anthology
of Poems volume titled "The Silence
Within," released July 2001.
** One of 33 (adult) poets whose poems will be recorded by
same society as a
deluxe
3-CD soundtape titled The Sound of Poetery, due end
of 2001.
** Published in 1997 in back-to-back chapbook
(bestof2worlds).
THE
FAMILY WITH CHOCOLATE HAIR
Stories & Poems by Tala Kernan
CONTENTS / INDEX
1. Haiku
2. The Family with
Chocolate Hair*
3. A Poem
4. I Am …
5. Talia's Room
Dance
© 1997, 2000 by Tala Kernan. All rights reserved.
* Published in 1997 in back-to-back
chapbook
(bestof2worlds).
1. A HAIKU by Tala
Kernan, 5
In the middle
of the night
the window
that I saw
was bright.
^
2. THE FAMILY WITH
CHOCOLATE HAIR
a First Story, made up and dictated to her Dad by Tala Kernan, 5
---to my Daddy
Alice was watching TV with her little brother Michael.
Michael was only one year old. And all one-year-olds put
everything in their mouth.
Michael pulled Alice’s hair and put it in his mouth. It
tasted like chocolate!
One day Alice’s Mom was making chocolate chip cookies.
She said, “I can’t make chocolate chip
cookies.”
“Why not?” Alice’s Dad asked.
“I’ve run out of chocolate chips.”
“Why don’t you just put some of your hair into the
cookies?” Alice’s Dad said.
“What? My hair!” Alice’s Mom asked.
“Why not? I noticed that we all have chocolate hair.
Taste it!” Alice’s Dad said.
So Alice’s Mom tasted her own hair, then said,
“Yes, it does taste like chocolate! I’ll put some
in the cookies.”
The next day the family with chocolate hair was walking their
dog Target in the park. Another dog saw Target. He came
running over and started licking him.
“Why did he lick Target?” asked Alice.
Alice looked down at Target and cried: “O my gosh! Our
dog has chocolate hair, too!”
^
A POEM by Tala Kernan,
6
A girl was walking in the woods.
She found a pear tree.
She picked one pear.
It screamed:
“Pick someone your size!”
^
3. I AM… by Tala
Kernan, 5
I am useful,
I am good,
I am careful--
but misunderstood.
^
4. TALIA'S ROOM
DANCE
by Tala Kernan, 6
In the middle of the night Talia woke up and couldn’t
get back to sleep.
She picked up her pillow and started to waltz with it.
Then she put the pillow down and flung her blanket around and
around in a ballet dance.
Then, with her slippers, she tap-danced before her mirror.
She hugged her pet cat and started to sing.
All the time she was careful not to wake up her parents.
Then she heard her Dad’s footsteps outside the door.
Talia jumped back into bed, pulled her blanket over her head,
and was soon fast asleep.
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
^
A
LITTLE TOWN CALLED ABBY
Poems & Stories by Amihan Kernan
CONTENTS / INDEX
1. A Little Town
Called Abby
2. The Planet
3. Different
Horses
4. Annie’s
Little Secret
5. Her Own Secret
Hideout
6. The Unicorn*
7. A Loud Scream
© 1997, 2000 by Tala Kernan. All
rights reserved.
* Published 1997 in a
back-to-back chapbook titled bestof2worlds.
1. A LITTLE TOWN
CALLED ABBY
by Amihan Kernan, 4 (dictated to her Daddy)
Once upon a time there was a little town called Abby.
Everyone in the town was named Abby. All the dogs and cats
and all the other animals were named Abby. All the streets in
the town were called Abby.
If you stood on a street corner and whistled, “Here,
Abby, come here, boy,” one hundred dogs would come
running because every dog in town was named Abby.
In the Abby telephone book there was only one letter,
“A”, because everyone’s name was Abby.
One day Mr. and Mrs. Abby went to the Abby Hospital and Mrs.
Abby gave birth to a beautiful girl.
Mr. Abby asked Mrs. Abby, “What shall we name our
beautiful little girl? Abby?”
Mrs. Abby said to Mr. Abby. “No, not Abby. We are going
to name our little girl Maggie.”
As Maggie grew up, she would eat all of her food from a tiny
bowl only this big.
^
2. THE PLANET by
Amihan Kernan, 6
A planet goes floating by,
It flows so beautifully
It touches my heart.
It seems it is in a sea of stars
And it goes right to my love.
^
3. DIFFERENT HORSES
by Amihan Kernan, 8
Horses are brown,
horses are black,
horses eat grass—-
and oats.
Some are wild,
some live on farms,
but I like all horses—
no matter what kind.
^
4. ANNIE'S LITTLE
SECRET
by Amihan Kernan, 6
PORTLAND
I’m Annie. I live on a farm on the plains of Portland,
Oregon.
My birthday was on June 23rd last week, so I’d like to
tell you about my birthday present.
I’ve always wanted to have a new pet. I was always
dreaming of owning a flying horse.
MANILA
One day I went on a long trip to Manila in the Philippines
with Mom and Dad. We stayed in Manila for a week.
There I saw a beautiful pony running in the field. I took a
long rope and swung it to catch the pony.
But the rope caught on the branch of a tree and broke off.
Then the pony ran away.
But I had to have that pony, so I tried to catch him again.
Finally, I caught the pony and took him home.
I asked Dad if I could keep the pony.
But Dad said, “Let him go, Annie. You already have your
own pony back home.”
But I did not let him go. I wanted this beautiful pony for my
new pet. Every morning I’d go out and feed my beautiful
pony.
One day I was playing with my new pony when we came to a
river bank. Then my pony jumped way up high into the sky and
landed on the other bank.
I was so amazed! My beautiful pony could fly like a bird!
I looked hard and saw that my pony had wings! As he flew, his
mane was like fire and his tail blew in the wind.
Then I came up with an idea.
PORTLAND
We left Manila and went back to Portland.
That evening I took my old pony for a walk. Once I let him
out of the gate, my old pony just ran away.
I told Dad, “My old pony ran away, and I can’t find
him. I want a new pet. I want that beautiful pony in
Manila.”
Dad said, “All right, Annie, you and I will go back to
Manila and get you that pony.”
“Yes, please, Dad,” I said. Then I kissed him.
PORTLAND
Next week Dad and I were back in Manila. Then we brought home
my new pet, my beautiful pony from Manila.
I know what my beautiful pony can do. To this day Dad and Mom
never knew that my new, beautiful pony can fly.
I never told them and I never will.
It’s my own little secret.
^
5. HER OWN SECRET
HIDEOUT
by Amihan Kernan, 8
One Monday morning a girl named Amy was sitting on her couch,
reading a book about a boy who found himself a secret
hideout.
She found the book so interesting she wanted to find her own
secret hideout.
She went to the bathroom where her Mom was taking a shower
and said she was going for a walk.
Her mother said, “Why not bring your little sister so
she won’t feel lonely?”
“Do I have to?” Amy asked.
“Yes!” her Mom said in such a strict voice Amy ran
out of the bathroom, slammed the door shut, and yelled,
“But I hate her!”
Her Mom said, “Take your little sister with you or you
can’t go out!”
Amy said, “But I’m going to find my own special,
‘no-kid-sister-allowed’ house!”
“Ok!” her Mom screamed, “but you have to give
your sister one of your dollars so she can go out and buy
herself something.”
Amy hesitated for a while, thinking, Should I go out for a
walk and lose one of eight dollars I have saved? Or stay home
and keep all my money?
She decided on a walk. Besides, she thought a dollar
isn’t that much—like, what can you get for a dollar
besides gum?
Amy yelled, “Fine! I get rid of my dollar!”
Her Mom said, “Your sister’s in the kitchen,
coloring—”
Amy answered, “Mom, you don’t have to tell me. I
have eyes—don’t you know?”
Her Mom didn’t answer. Amy left to get her money. She
pulled out a dollar and gave it to her 4-year-old sister.
“What’s this for?” asked her sister.
“Ask Mom!” Amy yelled in a clanky voice.
Her sister ran to the bathroom and yelled, “Mom, what
did Amy give me this for?”
But Amy didn’t hear anymore. She was already out,
running to the pond near their house.
On the way she met her best friend Marielle. Amy asked where
she was going. Marielle told her where a hideout she knew of
was.
And they ran together, side by side, holding hands
up—not the regular way down.
Once the treehouse was clean, Amy found on the rug a letter
from Sarah (the name of Amy’s little sister). The letter
read:
“To Amy:
I hate you … you hate me … we’re a stupid
family!
With a great punch and a kick from me to you—
Sarah.”
The rest of the letter was scribbled out.
^
6. THE UNICORN by
Amihan Kernan, 8
The unicorn comes flying by,
high above the sky,
with its horn upon its head,
flying here and there,
flying everywhere,
with its long tail behind it
and its silky mane like fire!
^
7. A LOUD SCREAM
(The Mystery of the TV) by Amihan Kernan, 8
Hi! I’m a world-famous detective. The first case in my
life was about a girl and a TV.
It all started when I heard a strange buzzing sound that
would stop every few seconds and then come on again.
Then I heard my neighbor, Mrs. Lucy, give a loud scream that
could be heard a mile away.
I ran over to help, but her door was locked. So I ran around
the house and found an open window.
I was thinking, What is wrong? I climbed the window and
jumped in and immediately covered my ears. Mrs. Lucy was
screaming!
When she stopped, I unplugged my ears and asked her,
“What’s wrong?”
Mrs. Lucy said, “Nothing.” Mrs. Lucy tried to call
911, but nobody answered. She ran to her room, slammed the
door shut, and started crying.
I looked around. Nothing was wrong. No fire, nothing blowing
up, no bombs, no nothing.
I wondered, Why was she screaming?
The TV was on! When I turned around I saw the TV turned on at
Sesame Street. Every few seconds it would buzz, and then
stop.
Just like when I first heard Mrs. Lucy screaming, and each
time a girl who looked like Mrs. Lucy’s daughter would
appear and cry, “Mommy … Mommy …”
I forgot—then I remembered Mrs. Lucy’s daughter,
Ginny!
I ran all over the house looking for Ginny. But she was
nowhere near home.
I walked back to the TV and stood there in silence. There was
no noise in the house, except for the faint sound of crying,
“Mommy … Mommy … coming from the TV and a buzz
stopping now and then.
I felt like screaming, but then world-famous detectives never
get scared.
That’s it, that’s it! I thought Mrs. Lucy’s
daughter watches TV too much!
I got my notebook and started scribbling …
^
NEW
WRITINGS
by AMIHAN & TALA KERNAN
CONTENTS / INDEX
1. The
Obedience School by Tala Kernan
2. Fall by Amihan Kernan
3. Six Poems by Tala Kernan
4. Dandelion by Amihan Kernan
© 1997, 2000 by Amihan and Tala
Kernan.
A. THE OBEDIENCE
SCHOOL
by Tala Kernan, 8
One day Mr. Monroe said that all the pets should go to an
obedience school. The animals were all popping up everywhere.
So they all got into the car: Howie, Chester, Harold,
Bunicula, Bella, Little Briy, Little Buster, Little Bucky,
Little Bunicula Jr., Little Bella Jr., Little Bingo, Little
Banana, Little Benny, Little Bessie, and teeny-tiny Bobby
(the runt).
The teacher’s name was Mrs. Blumberg, a big fat woman.
Chester said he was not going to like this!
Then Mrs. Blumberg said, “Our first lesson is … how
to pee and poop in the house … roll in the mud …
run around the house … make lots of noise … chew on
shoes…”
By that time everyone was doing what they were told.
Mrs. Blumberg continued: “ … eat books … mess
up beds …”
When it was time to go, Howie said: “Oh boy, this is the
best class ever!”
“You’ve never been in a different class,” said
Chester.
“One more thing,” said Mrs. Blumberg, “ …
chew on the slippers …”
Mr. Monroe was listening outside the window. He went in and
said: “Mrs. Blumberg, what kind of an obedience school
is this?”
“Mr. Monroe … this is not an obedience school, but
a dis-obedience school,” said Mrs. Blumberg.
“Oh, dear!” said Mr. Monroe.
So he took Howie, Chester, Harold, Bunicula, Bella, Little
Briy, Little Buster, Little Bucky, Little Bunicula Jr.,
Little Bella Jr., Little Bingo, Little Banana, Little Benny,
Little Bessie, and teeny-tiny Bobby (the runt) home.
^
2. FALL by Amihan
Kernan, 8
1
Fall is
colorful leaves
rainy days
bats hibernating
—and yes,
halloween!
2
Fall is
when leaves turn colorful,
when leaves fall gently to the ground,
when people start to pick
oranges, and
pumpkins
because it’s Halloween!
3
People are busy
giving food,
buying candy,
getting costumes,
raking leaves,
cleaning yards,
carving pumpkins.
Kids are turning
into witches,
goblins, and scary bats!
Kids start shouting
“Trick or treat!”
because now—
it’s Halloween!
4
Fall is foggy mornings,
cloudy nights,
children running to school.
Fall is red, orange, and yellow leaves
drifting slowly to the ground,
and animals, curled up,
as they start to hibernate.
5
Fall is
cold mornings,
rainy afternoons,
cloudy days,
colored leaves,
and animals hibernating!
Scary, creepy bats all around—
they’re out because it’s dark and scary
with jack o’ lanterns all around.
A scary owl up on a tree
and a squirrel
bravely goes up the trunk.
6
Fancy, fluttering leaves fly by;
ants and apples all over town;
leaves floating down to the ground;
and apples lying on the ground.
7
A - Apples on a tree are sweet.
U - Umbrellas go up in the mornings.
T - Tiny raindrops trickle to the ground.
U - Umbrellas are going up.
M - Mice scampering to their homes.
N - No one is out playing.
8
Fall is when children hurry to school,
rushing through the leaves on the ground.
At night the rain splashes into puddles.
The next day children rush
to see the golden pumpkins
in the pumpkin patch!
9
O - Outside it’s quiet.
C - Cats curled up inside.
T - Tiny raindrops fall outside. All
O - Over there are puddles.
B - Bats start to hibernate.
E - Elephants run under the rain. People
R - Raking leaves all day.
10
F - Fancy pumpkins on porches.
A - Apples on the apple tree.
L - Lit up the lanterns.
L - Lovely leaves.
^
3. SIX POEMS by Tala
Kernan, 8
a. MARY HAD A LITTLE LAMB
Mary had a little lamb
who ran away for good,
when he was out of Mary’s sight,
he met Red Riding Hood.
Red Riding Hood adored him
for a very long long time,
until the little lamb went on
to commit a crime.
b. THE CROCODILE AND THE PARAKEET
The crocodile and the parakeet
met a chimpanzee named Pete.
Pete was brown and had lots of fun
and, like a cat, could purr.
The three went down the jungle trail
and tripped over a tiny snail.
c. A BAD DAY
I woke up one October morning, to find my sister still
asleep, snoring. I went to get some socks, but there were no
pairs. I went out the door and tripped over the stairs. Yuck!
spinach for breakfast! Mom said, don’t make such a
fuss!Uh-uh! come back here, you big, old, ugly bus! Come on,
Tabby! why won’t you purr? W-wait! I think I know
what’s going on! It’s the 13th day of October!
d. CHEESE MOON
I am a little mouse, who’s goin’ to the moon,
they think my name is “astronaut”.
They gave me a gigantic spoon.
I say it’s made of stone,
they say it’s definitely not.
I’m on my way to the moon right now
and I really don’t know how.
Hey! there’s that planet Jupiter!
Mom went there
and she says it tastes bitter.
There’s the planet Mars!
where aliens drive their cars.
Hey! there’s the Moon!
it’s made of cheese—
a mouse heaven!—
Wait! I’m allergic ... to cheese!
I’m gonna ... gonna ... SNEEEEEEZE!
e. AT THE PARK
looks like an airplane
just flew by
feels like I won’t stop
swinging on this swing
tastes like the mousse
that came from the backyard
smells like a dog
went to the bathroom
sounds like the ice-cream truck
is coming—IS COMING!
f. POEM
I am the head who only eats bodies,
I live in a chain of porter-potties.
I'm hungry right now,
Man-bodies seem fine,
Mmm … this one is yummy—
Ooops! It's mine!
^
4. DANDELION* by
Amihan Kernan, 9
One sunny morning, Lilly woke up. She was planning on playing
on the tire swing her Dad had built for her. He had made it
out of an old tire he found at the dump.
When Lilly walked out the door, she found the yard full of
dandelion seeds. Lilly thought of one clear night when she
sat on the porch swing with her Mom. Her Mom said that if you
blew on a dandelion seed and all the tufts came off, your
wish would come true.
Now her Mom was dead and Lilly was living in their house with
her Dad and two cats. What Lilly wanted most was to see her
Mom again. Lilly had photos of her Mom, but that didn’t
satisfy her. She wanted to see her mother again.
Lilly walked around the garden and picked a perfect dandelion
seed. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and with all
of her heart whispered her wish: "I want so much to see
my Mom again." She blew hard on the dandelion seed and
all the little tufts flew off and floated over the garden.
Then Lilly stood still, really still. All the colors around
her started blending into each other. The sky turned a deep
shade of purple-blue.
Minutes later, the colors began to clear up. She found
herself staring at her Mom sitting on the porch swing,
reading a book.
Lilly looked all around her. The garden was different. No
tire swing. The garden was full of flowers.
Lilly looked down. She was still in her old dress. In her
hand she was still holding the dandelion stem.
“Lilly honey,” her Mom called out. “Come sit
with me!” she said, scooting over to make room for her.
Lilly ran to her Mom, skipping the steps up to the porch. She
sat on the porch swing and leaned her head on her Mom’s
shoulder.
She started to think of what had just happened. She had
traveled through time! Here she was, sitting on the porch
swing beside her Mom!
Where was Daddy? What would he think? Would he be looking for
her? And call a search party to find her?
How was she going to get back? Would she be stuck here with
her Mom? Was she going to live the past few years of her life
with Mom all over again?
After sitting a few minutes with her Mom, Lilly walked back
to the garden and picked another dandelion seed. Again she
closed her eyes, took a deep breath, blew hard, and wished
she could go back to her Dad.
The colors became blurred. In a minute or two she was back in
her own time, standing in the same place, holding the
dandelion stem.
As Lilly walked back to her house, she glanced at the porch
swing where she and her Mom had sat together for a moment.
The porch swing was empty.
Then Lilly knew her life had changed. Now she has the power
to travel back in time, to visit her Mom.
All she had to do was wish for it.
* This story was praised by Leonard Casper as a
story that can be made into a short-short Internet movie.
^
AMIHAN
& TALA:
Two Young Fil-Americans Grow Up In Oregon
(published in Manila in the 21-23 March 1997 issue of THE
EVENING PAPER [Arts & Leisure Section]).
One is seven years old, sports a Tagalog/Filipino name,
Amihan (for “cool Northeast wind”) and hair the
color of chestnut—or sunsilk when struck by sunlight.
The other is five, proudly carries the name Tala, and is not
fazed by its Tagalog /Filipino meaning (“star”).
She is a brunette in a country of blondes, which she is too
young to learn to appreciate.
Amihan and Tala were born two years apart in Mt. Sinai
hospital on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. Now permanent
residents of Oregon, they have enjoyed, in their brief lives,
the best of Manhattan and (on the opposite coast) Portland,
Oregon—and the best from two worlds and cultures:
Filipinas and America.
The two girls are beneficiaries of genes inherited from two
parents and two sets of grandparents.
Amihan and Tala are the daughters of Lisa Florentino (in
younger days a member of the Philippine-U.P. Concert Chorus
and of Felipe de Leon’s ensemble, Himig ng Lahi) and
Patrick Kernan, a native of Eugene, Oregon, an
illustrator-computer graphic artist on Fifth Avenue.
Some 150 years ago, Patrick’s ancestors, in covered
wagons, braved snow blizzards, swollen rivers, and Indian
raids—to blaze the famous “Oregon Trail” for
the benefit of millions who later “won the West”
and populated pristine Oregon and other Pacific Coast states.
Amihan and Tala are also the first grand-daughters of Alberto
Florentino, the playwright-publisher now better known as
“the father of a Miss Saigon”; and Eva (née San
Jose), now famous for her part in the “recovery” of
the 19th-century paintings of Juan Luna in downtown
Manhattan.
Amihan and Tala are also the nieces of their Mom’s three
sisters:
Sonya, a graduate of UP Fine Arts and now happier as a
pop-music composer;
Leila, who took over (from Lea Salonga) the role of
“Kim” in Miss Saigon on Broadway
(‘92-‘93); and
Angeli, the family’s third singer and soloist for a rock
band and a former gamelan player in an all-Indonesian
orchestra in New York.
Amihan, at 7, excels in mathematics and studies violin. She
composes—or as she says, “make up my own
songs”—and sings a couple of them on the spot or
over the phone. When she was four, she dictated her first
story; at age 6, while learning to read and write, she wrote
down her first poem.
Tala, now 5, took after her illustrator-artist father and
studies cello. The two sisters also learned computer graphics
from their father and now help him in his work.
Tala always talks of her favorite artist, “Claude”
(Monet), and her favorite Van Gogh painting (“Starry
Night”).
This May (‘97) the two girls’ Mom, Lisa Florentino,
and tenor Ramon Acoymo, will have a joint concert at the
Carnegie Hall (Weill Recital Hall) in New York, where they
will also launch their first joint CD album (Immortal
Philippine Songs).
Among the audience that night will be the extended Florentino
and Kernan clans, including the soprano’s two daughters:
Amihan and Tala.
AMIHAN
& TALA:
Two Young Fil-Americans Make It In Oregon
Towards the end of year 2001 the International Poetry Society
(poetry.com), based in Maryland, will publish a coffee-table anthology of world poetry in
English in four volumes. One thousand five hundred (1,500) adult poets with as many of their poems will be released to the public in four successive volumes.
The poets generally include adult poets, from aspiring young writers to established ones, from all over the world.
The first volume, containing approx. 350 poets and as many of their poems, comes out July 2001. The poems have been written in, or translated into,
English and submitted by poets who could be as young as 6 to 16 and from 60 to 80 years.
The first volume, entitled The Silence Within, includes several young poets, two of whom are aged 10 and 12, who submitted poems they wrote at age 6 and 8, from 1995 to 1997. Their names: Amihan Kernan and Tala Kernan; both are from Portland, Oregon, and quite precocious sisters.
Amihan and Tala Kernan were born in 1989 and 1991 in Manhattan (at Mt. Sinai hospital on 5th Avenue) of mixed parentage. In 1994 the family, after living in Manhattan (the former Hell’s Kitchen, now Clinton), relocated to Portland, Oregon, where they grow up, entered grade school, learned to read and write. Amihan and Tala took up lessons in violin and cello (respectively), as well as art and dance lessons (ballet, flamenco and tap) and riding the bicycle and swimming.
At age 4 and 6 Amihan and Tala, still unable to read and write, but exposed early to the arts in the family and the city of their birth, started "making up" poems, stories, songs and dances. At age 4 Amihan dictated to her Dad her first story ["A Little Town Called Abby"] and at 5 scrawled her first poem ["The Planet’]. Not to be left behind, Tala wrote her first poem at age 6 ["A Poem (Pear/tree)"] and her first story ["The Family with Chocolate Hair"].
In 1996 the two sisters and their writings were the subject of a write-up in
Parents magazine in Manila. In 1997 their poems and stories, written in school and at home, were published in a back-to-back chapbook
(bestof2worlds, ©1997) launched at a children’s party (book launching/signing/reading plus a birthday party for 7-year old Tala) at Casa Victoria in Jersey City.
In 1997 the two sisters were again featured in the art and lifestyle section of
The Evening Paper in Manila and later in Fil-Am annual in New York, both edited by Krip Yuson. They continued to write poems and stories far beyond the needs in their classrooms. Amihan wrote new stories, among them
"Dandelion." Tala wrote "The Obedience School" and the poem "Poem #2 (Hungry)".
Amihan and Tala were exposed to books, musical and dance shows on stages and on TV, art exhibit openings, as they grew up in New York and Oregon. In
Portland a year ago she won the greatest number of books read in one summer (total 143 books) for which she won a gift certificate—for more books! But for
those who knew Amihan and Tala’s "provenance," what they have done is not much of a surprise.
Amihan and Tala are the daughters of Lisa Florentino, a Filipina singer (coloratura soprano) who has traveled widely in the US, Canada and Europe
since the 70s as a member of the Philippine UP Concert Chorus and the song-and-dance ensemble Himig ng Lahi, and a graduate of Manhattan School
of Music. She moved to New York in the '80s, got married and started a family
with husband Patrick Kernan who himself relocated from Eugene OR to Manhattan in the '80s as an illustrator designer (later adding computer
Web-design master) with offices on 5th Avenue (under the shadow of the Flatiron
Bldg.). Patrick and his parents can trace their genealogy to the millions who "won the West" by spearheading the famous Oregon Trail from
mid-America to the Pacific Coast.
Amihan and Tala are the first granddaughters of Alberto Florentino and Eva (née San Jose). Alberto has been a playwright/book publisher for the past half-century in Manila; Eva, a university professor and gallery owner/curator in Manila, responsible for the famous "recovery" in downtown Manhattan, of the works of the noted 19th century Filipino painter Juan Luna.
Amihan and Tala also boasts three aunts who, like their eldest (Lisa in opera), went into music: Sonya (painter; then guitarist and pop-song composer); Leila (Broadway actor: "Kim" in Miss Saigon on Broadway 92-93; Angeli (who played the gamelan, kulintang and bloomed late as a singer).
Amihan, now 12, is first year at Leonardo da Vinci Middle School in Portland, OR. Tala, 10, who is in Buckman P.S., dreams of joining her sister at da
Vinci. In 1995 their parents decided in their behalf to relocate to the kindlier and gentler environment of Portland which in the years they have lived there have enjoyed the ambience of a city that has enjoyed the benefits of a young, small but expanding metropolis as the city and its state enter the 21st century, the brave new world of the Digital Age, the Electronic Superhighway, and the New Millennium.
L I T E R A R Y F O O T N O T E S
TALA KERNAN, of Buckman (Public School) in
Portland, Oregon, will be the youngest of 1,500 (adult) poets
and songwriters whose poems have been chosen in the Poetry
Contest (The International Library of Poetry, 1 Poetry Plaza,
Owings Mills, MD 21117; www.poetry.com) for inclusion in the coffee-table anthology NATURE'S ECHOES
(Lib.of.Cong.ISBN-1-58235-564-9, $50).
TALA KERNAN wrote her first poem at age 6.
At age 7 she and her sister Amihan launched a back-to-back
chapbook of their poems and stories (bestof2worlds, '97 NYC).
Her poem in NATURE'S ECHOES:
A POEM
by Tala Kernan, 6 in '97
A girl was walking in the woods.
She found a pear tree.
She picked one pear.
It screamed:
"Pick someone your size!"
Another of her latest poems:
POEM 2
by Tala Kernan, 8 in '99
I am the head who eats only bodies,
I live in a chain of port-o-potties.
I'm hungry right now,
Man-bodies seem fine.
Mmm … this one is yummy—
Ooops! It's mine!
TALA KERNAN was also one of several cellists in Overture
Strings in a concert by Portland's orchestras (led by Metropolitan Youth
Symphony) in FATHER'S DAY POPS Concert, Sunday June 17, 2001 at Arlene
Schnitzer Concert Hall in downtown Portland.
