Kudaku lari gagah berani
Gagah lejang mengaum garang
Degup liarnya meragut hari
Buas nafsu menerkam siang.
#599 On Death’s Dark Machete
Fate's marionette, you ambled blind
Through Life's dark byways - lost, unmoored.
With every hurt, you hurt in kind,
Unthinking, Life has left you floored.
Your eyes alit with Terror's blaze,
Death's dark machete counts the days.
(inspired by Paul Auster's father, and all the other traumatised, useless fathers out there)
#598 On The Maggot’s Rot
Through all the years, your hard travails,
You bid your conscience mute, untasked.
And in the ripeness, power reveals,
Now on your throne you stand, unmasked.
We barely knew you, did we not?
Behind that smile, the maggot's rot.
#597 On Being Out for a Short While
Out for a short while:
A mere blank pause, or is this
The end of the road?
#596 On The Cockroaches
Sunlight is the antidote to injustice:
Evil skulks in dark corners, and cruelty
Rules when eyes are awed and averted.
One brave voice calls out, and the novelty
Of Truth stands tall, like a daring novice.
How did we not know - how were we blindsided?
(Like shamed cockroaches, they scurry out of sight,
To bide their time in the dark cloak of night.)
#595 Tentang Gelora Manja Puffin
Gelora manja yang melompat girang
Memburu cinta dengan guruh harapan
Gemuruh hitam putih menuntut riang
Hati melayang menerjah gelung sopan
Sayang, memang layaknya namamu Puffin
Mekar kasih kami marak dan tulen.
#594 Tentang Nafas Rindu
Dengan setiap rukun ruku’ dan sujud
Aku ampuhkan seluruh pancaindera
Menempuh alur waktu dan wujud
Membucu setiap sisa rasa sengketa
Pancungkanlah nafsu buasku, Tuhan
Agar dapat aku bernafas tanpa sedan.
#593 On Reading Syed Hussein Alatas
The lazy native:
A convenient fig leaf for
Your colonial crimes.
#592 On Keynes
In the long run of History you stand
Tall astride the mysterious alchemies
Of commerce and trade, the intellectual
Colossus of economic thought. Bands
of adversaries, with their arrayed blasphemies,
Have not dispelled your gorgeous gospel.
We bow to your memory, John Maynard Keynes
Your truths congealed in our collective veins.
#591 On Young Girls Browsing in Bookshops
Whispered giggles are
The currency of young girls
In the budding groves.