ISMAIL, Taufik
For You Our Country
…..
We were maltreated repeatedly for years
We were killed and eliminated
After we were killed our widows were hurt
We could not do anything, our villages were burnt
It was impossible to use arrows to compete firearms
As rabies in epidemic
The names of locations, cities, locations, provinces
Where we were buried were never announced
Pains and horrors alternated
In one night hundreds were shot
In years thousands were killed
So every time such a hymn was sung
We came to the last two lines
We offered our souls and bodies to God
After that it is up Him
Whether God would share it with the country
…..
Having different opinions.
…..
Those who have power consider that those who have different opinions
Become eternal enemies
They will be enemies until they die
We used to have Bung Sjahrir, now we have Pak Ton
Then we have Pak Nas, Pak Syarifruddin and Bang Ali
They are ignored when they are met in the street
They are excluded from those who are invited to attend wedding receptions
Their telephones are tapped; the accesses to their incomes are obstructed
Their vehicles are followed where they go
They are listed in the report prepared by the detectives
…..
A little bell in the window
A little bell hungdanglingswaying in the window
In the month of June
Lonely cling-e-ling
Tamarind leaf and tjilping of a sparrow
Clicketyclack of the andong horses in Jogja
Old city that stretches itself in dust
Throughout the alley the lonesome is scattered
A little bell hungdanglingswaying in the window
In the month of June
Lonely
Cling-
el-
ling
One Hundred Million
The poor and unemployed are standing
They total one hundred million, can you see their faces
I am among them and do not know what I can do for them
I am bowing my head, as
There is something which is extremely serious
Disappearing from the thoracic cavity
My brothers who earn nothing and are unemployed are standing here
Our brothers with a limited access to income are bending
Their children and wives, totaling millions, are behind them
They are standing in hundreds of thousand rows
There are so many that they reach the horizon of the equator
There is no space
At the office, factory, and shop for them
Such a misery is becoming universal
Their children do not go to school
The medicine they need for the diseases they may suffer from is unaffordable to them
They are not able to pay for installments
When on earth job opportunities will be available for them
I feel embarrassed that I am an Indonesian
…..
In my country the markets where the small
traders sell their commodities are burned in
order to build a huge shopping center
In my country Udin and Marsinah were martyrs,
Smell the aroma of their corpses, now
they are defeated, but then those who planned
and killed the two people will go to hell and will be stepped on
and crushed to bits by the heaven’s security
…..
This Letter Is An Open Letter
…..
What I would like to ask is
How much is a soul in our country
Is it true that it is so cheap? It seems that
Every infant that is born in Indonesia
The soul-cord is blown into the navel by God
And the first hard crying is made by the infant
When the mother endures the pain of her uterus
In the room when she gives birth to the infant
And all her relatives pray and expect that
A new human member will come
At that time nobody knows
That in 20, 22 or 25 years later
The infant will be shot by its nation
Using the bullet paid for with the money
Earned by selling the agricultural product
And the taxes which we all pay
…..