The kamia flower

Has any writer ever used the lowly kamia flower as a symbol? Roses, certainly. And the sampaguita, the azucena, the cadena de amor, the passion flower, violets, orchids. These have often been used by writers as symbols. But kamias? It is probable that Mr. Jose Mangahas, of the Congressional Village in Quezon City, may be the first one to do so. He writes of the kamia (he spells it kamya) as a symbol for the Blessed Virgin Mary.

It is a very apt symbol. First of all, the kamia is not the kind of flower that people cultivate in their gardens. Not like roses or orchids. It often grows wild. As such it is a symbol of the unsophisticated, the simple, the homespun. Therefore a very good symbol for the lowly Maiden of Nazareth who called herself the maid servant of the Lord.

More important, the kamia is a lovely flower, delicate, fragrant, and of a whiteness that could not be improved. It is as white as white could be. Therefore an apt symbol of the delicate purity, the total sinlessness of the Maid who was immaculate from the first moment of her existence to her last.

Mr. Mangahas’s poem is actually only a quatrain, a four-line stanza at the beginning of an essay, and the essay is entitled "May sakdal na lihim kaya ang kamya?" Does the kamia flower perhaps have a profound secret?

An interesting question. But here is his quatrain and my attempt at a translation:

Marílag mabangó at puting dalisay

Mayumi’t mahinhing bulaklak ng parang,

Ikaw kaya, O Kamya, ang pinakamahal

Sa lahat ng bulaklak ng Birhen ng Silangan.

(Beautiful, fragrant, and purest white,

Modest gentle flower of the wilds,

Perhaps, O Kamia, you are the most precious

Of all the flowers of the Virgin of the Dawn.)

The word "silangan" could mean the East, the Orient, the place where the sun rises. Here it probably should have the original meaning, the Dawning of a new day. It is an echo of the song of Zacharias at the birth of John the Baptist. Zacharias speaks of "the Dawn from on high" (Oriens ex alto) that will shine on those in darkness, and lead our feet on the way of peace. So, "Birhen ng Silangan" is the Virgin who becomes a Mother of him who is the Light of the world.

Thus interpreted, the kamia flower does have a profound secret.

Does our interpretation correspond to what Mr. Mangahas had intended? He may have had a different meaning in mind. But literary compositions have an autonomy, an objective existence distinct from the author. Many prophecies in the Bible were fulfilled in a manner totally different from what the prophet may have in mind.

So, if our interpretation differs from the author’s, we beg his pardon but we congratulate him for having written a fine poetic stanza.