I am sending the final version of my poem BANTUL 2006 as I read last night in our vigil gathering for Bantul/Yogya in our Indonesian Embassy in Washington DC.
Ikra.-
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Ikranagara:
BANTUL 2006
words no longer existed
when our eyes were looking up high
the sky was burning red
above the top of mount merapi threatening to erupt
then suddenly we looked down toward bantul
when the earth was shaking so hard
words no longer existed there either
the trembling river opak
was agape
with horror
mute
when the shaking power of the earth
easily toppled down houses
in one stroke
thunderously
death took the lives of victim after victim
scattered about
in the mountains of rubble
in bantul, sleman, klaten, imogiri
in panggungharjo, trumulyo
in yogya oh yogyakarta the second birth place
there were no words either over there
but numbers
soaked by heavy monsoon rain
numbers calculating disaster by the refugees tents
numbers counting wounds by the cotton full of blood
numbers counting hunger and thirst by the weak voices
but when we listened
and looked carefully
for the human words
in those murmuring voices
one single word emerged
out of their breath of hopelessness
: help
the word passed from mouth to mouth
: help
crossing the borders of the cities
crawling from one country to the next
: help
surfing in the virtual world of internet in computers
crisscrossing the oceans & continents
: help
a single word full of desire to live
it should bring back our togetherness
to act out our human words
originating from the treasure of universal feelings
in our civilization
hopefully then
: amen
***
then came the time for contemplation
after the shaking of the earth was over
we counted the victims graves
by the drops of our tears
the beads of rosaries
sending the countless words of prayers
for those who left us
in their golden carriage
: amen
: yaa siin
***
it is time to be silent for a moment
to give thought to what will come next
: if our eyes look up high again
is the sky still burning red as before
above the top of mount merapi threatening to erupt?
twinbrook on the edge of rock creek may 2006
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Berdikusi dg Santun & Elegan, dg Semangat Persahabatan. Menuju Indonesia yg Lebih Baik, in Commonality & Shared Destiny. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ppiindia
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