Dulu kau meraja
Tumbuk terajang kau hadiahkan
Pada budak hingusan
Yang tak mampu melawan
Kini kau melata
Senyum kerang kau pasangkan
Pada wajah hodoh
Yang kau pamerkan demi kudapan
Kami tak akan lupa
Muka babi seorang pencedera.
#554 On The Blind Man of Gaza
I would rather You
Strike me blind, O God
Than for me to have to see
This blasphemy before me
What good are these eyes
If all they see is
This valley of unending tears?
#553 On The Rushing Days
The days rush by
With the jibber jabber of words said
And the hurly burly of things to be done
And the helter skelter of events
("Events, dear boy, events" was what he said)
The days anoint our lives
And mark the passing of Time
And the passing of friends
In the pursing of Time remaining
The dwindling of our days
Our lives, with each day erased
The passing of dazed souls
Meeting their final end
I try to catch the days
As they rush by:
The futility irks me
Even as Death lurks, erasing the days
And I try to catch the rays
Of sunlight as they fall at my feet
Each day, until the day
When Death will come to greet.
#552 On CSR, SDG, ESG and Other Attempts at Moneymaking
An alphabet soup
of earnest dreams repackaged
for artless wallets.
#551 Tentang Pemergian Seorang Sahabat
Malam ini aku dikejutkan
Dengan berita pemergianmu, sahabat
Terlalu lama kita tidak bersua
Dan kerinduan itu kini takkan terubat
Kau telah pergi meninggalkan kami
Malam ini aku mengenangkan
Satu demi satu ingatan padamu, sahabat
Terlalu lama aku bertangguh untuk berjumpa
Kini saatnya sudah terlewat
Kau telah pergi ke alam abadi
Damailah di sana, sahabat
Kita bakal ketemu nanti.
(buat sahabatku Abas, moga Allah merahmati)
#550 Tentang Kecewa Yang Enggan Terpadam
Jiwa terpatah
Mungkir amanah
Nanah menular
Marah mengakar
Porak peranda
Merana jiwa
Hayat terkandas
Berang terlafaz
Kasih tercalar
Hati terbakar
Pendam kecewa
Terluka hampa.
#549 On Getting Here
How did I get here?
Those days were dark and heavy.
I know I’ve earned this.
#548 On That Two-Bit Crook
I cannot fathom
An entire nation, deceived
By a two-bit crook.
#547 On Your Own Time
You think of Time
As the continuum of your own reality
The ebb and flow of history
As it weaves around the fabric of your Life
But this Time
Your Time
- is but one Time amongst many
Just another wave
Amongst each successive wave
Beating against the beach of Existence
And you think of Time
As the ticking of your own clock
The coming and going of your days
The sunrises and sunsets of your Life
But this Time
Your Time
- is but one Time amongst many
And when your time is done
Time will still be here
Like the waves of an endless ocean
Beating against the shores of Being
At the sunset of God's great Creation.
(inspired by Kat Rahmat and Michel Serres)
#546 On Distracting Ourselves from Thoughts of the Scythe of Death
We talk of medicines and supplements
Procedures and cures
Pontificate on surgical practices
Speculate on therapeutic panaceas
In the vain hope
That speaking of technology and treatments
Can help to stave off
The scythe of Death.