Moh. Wan Anwar
Other Than Vain
other than vain, is there a sin recorded in the asphalt
and the peaceful of our backyard
maybe there is just ordinary anxious
like often something isn’t done
we are already too eloquent to chew dust
the smell of stuttering conversations
or smell of silence on a fever
but the stories on the streets are not always over
and love is not so
we are used to saying other words
from the other winds, with the other love
even a completely different feeling
we are always half-believing, half-not
like in a dream, half helpless
then we mark the distance and wound listed in the trace
while imagining gray hair later grows on the head
we read the names of buildings again, sentences on banners
and the rest of the screaming protest hanging in the space
besides being in vain, maybe there’s no sin
between us. Just for a long time we didn’t understand
where we were actually walks
Serang 2000
Translated from a poem entitle “Selain Sia-Sia” by Moh. Wan Anwar
Willy Fahmy Agiska
Hourglass
Yumi Pratiwi
Maybe you don’t hear me
When the sand decays it falls
for solemn solitude and your heartfelt gaze..
I shouted a declaration of love
there, from my solitude shore
hot, infinite, anxious,
as well as the time does.
Once I became a turtle
after being repeatedly disappointed
and did not understand human love.
Then I dug deep
into the eggs for my words
year by year
until they all hatched
into the vast ocean of your heart.
And when the wind swishing,
to whose heart will I be expelled
as a poet
2014-2015
Translated from a poem entitle “Jam Pasir” by Willy Fahmy Agiska, in “Mencatat Demam” (2018)
M. Arfani Budiman
Explosion 2
knife-eyed woman
scratching the perfect wound
white drizzle divide the city into the wind
fairy wings gather sadness
in gloomy weather
I’m just a man who let the words
become an explosion
and destroy the entire universe
Translated from a poem entitle “Ledakan 2” by M. Arfani Budiman in “Pecahan Kaca Di Jalan Lestari” (2017)
Nenden Lilis Aisyah
Partere, A Note
some had been read on the walls of the building
thousand events were quietly sinks
in the depths of the pond in the park
a thousand historical blisters in the ground
“Hey, look! the queen of isola swims like a fish!”
shouted the children while taking off their clothes
plunge into the water, swam the hope
“But there are dead soldiers, red pool of blood!”
exclaimed the others
ah, no, darling, there’s no queen of isola
and soldiers, even though the war is still on
I suddenly heard the “guedamus” choir
from the classrooms, then I see people
towards the gate, walk one by one
waving a diploma
her tears flowed in the noisy streets
inundate the offices, buildings, factories,
and shops; create another places
and hope and his future left behind on the benches
“Partere remains silent. does she know?”
1993
Translated from a poem entitle “Partere, Sebuah Catatan” by Nenden Lilis Aisyah, ini “Negeri Sihir”
