Hati muda bercitadamba
Memuliakan penulis sakti
Kata makna imbau pesona
Megah alam termaktub seni.
#809 Tentang Kekatupan Memilih Arah
Debar pada arah bersilih
Bila tiada landas yang jelas
Kala akal harus memilih
Hati katup tewas terkandas.
#808 On The Permanence of Human Worth
Enamoured by the white heat of the New
Forgetting that the Truth is immanent
Technology seduces not a few
Beguiled by baubles, all impermanent
We wake to find that human worth prevails,
Persists, amidst the churns of Life's travails.
#807 On Joyfully Existing
I told you these things in all honesty
In the hope that these truths will help you to see
That there is a better way to live
A better way to be
Like ships passing each other in the night
We are lonely pilgrims, lost in our own plight
There is a better way to live
To walk towards the light
What does it mean to be a better human being?
What does it mean to experience every feeling
What does it mean to live
To be joyfully existing?
#806 Tentang Patahnya Sayap Malam
Patah sayap malam beradu
Hiba pungguk menanti fajar
Sunyi nian di kamar rindu
Hati hamba luka tercalar.
#805 On Boardroom Battles
Around a faux-wood table we
Make joust with faux-words crisply held
This fierce fracas, a bloodless spree
We lead our victims to the geld
In subtle tones we wage these wars
With bodies piled behind closed doors.
#804 Tentang Cahya Kemilau
Bila hati tercarik calar
Fikiranmu berkacaubilau
Cari jalan pulang yang benar
Sana ada cahya kemilau.
#803 On These Funny Games
Funny games that we play:
Write down lines with numbers and words
That make up promises of new things to come
And erasures of old things to be swept away
Gather them up into numbered paragraphs
Garnished with quotes from dead men
And the flourish of fighting words
Then declaim the words unto a tepid room
Full of desiccated men with dried-up ambitions
And a sprinkling of the young and aspirant
Desperate to keep some small spark
Of their youthful dreams alive amidst the desolation
And after that, more words:
Words of eager and noseful praise
Words of doubt and scornful raze
Words of apathy in gauzy haze
A long kabuki of paper plowshares
And the fierce clanging of plastic swords
Just words words words
To mark the passing of one year
And the coming of another
More promises to stave off the hastening
Fears of that final day
When words fall onto the red earth of returning.
#802 Tentang Hati Yang Bermain Sembunyi
Kenali hatimu ini
Yang terlalu mahir bermain sembunyi
Lemas dalam selaksa teka-teki
Tewas dengan kelekaan duniawi
Bacalah getar hatimu
Bahasa debar yang mencoret rindu
Ingin mengejar redha yang Satu
Namun tergelincir dek hasut sang Seteru
Dengarlah bisikannya
Hati yang merayu desak irama
Ingin restu yang Maha Esa
Ingin patuh tunduk pada-Nya.
#801 On The White Gaze
Have you heard of dangdut?
Oh, what’s that?
It is the number one music genre in Indonesia.
Oh, oh, interesting! What is it like? It must be melodic, no?
Hmph, not really melodic. More like janky.
Janky?
Yes, very much proletarian. Probably with Indian antecedents. Drums and flutes and all that. Lots of dancing and gyrating.
Ah, interesting. So so very interesting.