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.
#590 On the Atmosphere of a Bookshop Cafe
The click and flush of
The coffee machine mingles
With tepid muzak.
#589 On the Sauronic Glare
Sentinel of fire
Upon its shadowless throne:
Angry eye, glowering.
#588 On This Vicious Parade
With daggered eyes we
Scowl at the Other; age-old,
This vicious parade.
#587 On Being Stuck in a Traffic Jam in Serdang
In metal coffins
We marched grimly as the sun
Baked us to a crisp.
#586 On Those Poor Children
It is as if the world is constantly surprised
That those who most ardently profess
Religiosity are often those who commit
The most egregious forms of wickedness.
Those poor, poor children: could we permit
Their suffering to be ignored, be pushed aside?
#585 On Mommy’s Nightly Games with Puff Puff
Every night, she jumps the shark of
Felt necklace and twirling string.
With eager anticipation of leisure,
She is a blur of black and white, swirling
In tune to mommy’s fierce fantasia.
Each evening, a declaration of love.