the lonely tree by mithun sundar raj

Deserted tree stands naked amidst
the sorrow cry of the nature
Weary fills, transparent shy faced
The drought cheeks-dry crooked thorns.

Just a sapling-bird perched on him, singing
Lovely red-neck, stouted head and tilted back
Seemed to knock on everything on others’ lament
Teasing tails of rainbow hues, fresh-blooded.

Holds the trunk on a magical touch of love,
Tree sheds tears on the confidence of life
Tweety-bird shelters on him, sounds of tones
That sways him tapping by the sweetness.

And now, the tree has shed his shadow
to house the bird from the wrath of nature
Never did the foiled days came to his mind
Bird still sings life of peace and harmony.

the tears behind merapi (www.foresterlife.blogspot.com)

The Tears Behind Merapi

When Mount Merapi began to the activity again
Shake the earth, out lava, till spit volcanic ash
When it also groans heart wrenching pain
Toddlers up to old man asking for help at around

Among the ashes, corpse lay lifeless
Farm animals and plants are no longer helpless
Tears began streaming down the cheeks of children from the country
Now they piled into one on the barrack camps

Hoping disaster was no longer shows God’s power
Familiarity disaster makes them strong
Missing family members no longer make them mourned
They just want to open a new chapter in their life

For the existing authorities in the throne
Do not overload them with your deception
It's enough that they feel pain
That's enough the tears streaming

Don’t add anymore
Don’t add anymore
Don’t add anymore
Don’t more add their burden with your devious actions

Aku Melihat Indonesia by SOEKARNO a.k.a. BUNG KARNO

Aku Melihat Indonesia

Jika aku berdiri di pantai Ngliyep
Aku mendengar lautan Indonesia bergelora
Membanting di pantai Ngeliyep itu
Aku mendengar lagu – sajak Indonesia

Jikalau aku melihat
Sawah menguning menghijau
Aku tidak melihat lagi
Batang padi menguning – menghijau
Aku melihat Indonesia

Jika aku melihat gunung-gungung
Gunung Merapi, gunung Semeru, gunung Merbabu
Gunung Tangkupan Prahu, gunung Klebet
Dan gunung-gunung yang lain
Aku melihat Indonesia

Jikalau aku mendengar pangkur palaran
Bukan lagi pangkur palaran yang kudengarkan
Aku mendengar Indonesia

Jika aku menghirup udara ini
Aku tidak lagi menghirup udara
Aku menghirup Indonesia

Jika aku melihat wajah anak-anak di desa-desa
Dengan mata yang bersinar-sinar
(berteriak) Merdeka! Merdeka!, Pak! Merdeka!

Aku bukan lagi melihat mata manusia
Aku melihat Indonesia!

I Don't Want to Love You, But I Do by Cecilia Lucass

You were born out of death to a life in a cage
Where bombs are not the only reason people die
Fed by the violence of hunger and homelessness
Raised by colonialism
Your heart and your will still grew strong

You scare me
Not just because they tell me to be scared
Not just because they repeat, repeat, repeat
The story of 1983
Begging me to understand
Americans are worth more than Lebanese

Why do they never tell me about Jihad al Bina
That you have created so much
Saved so many lives
Improved so many more

It scares me
When I admit to myself
That I would be more scared without you
If I still took the time to see

To see the violence that does not just fall from the skies
that exists in hunger and homelessness
in colonialism

It scares me
That my hope is tangled up
In actions I would never want to commit

But I don't sleep much these days
And I've tried hard
But I haven't found
Anything
to give me hope that they will listen

They repeat, repeat, repeat
The story of Gaza withdrawal
Hoping we won't see
The violence that continues
That kills in so many ways
Hoping we will now support it
Or at least stop looking

They insist talk does not work
When there is no one to talk to
It is hard to find an interlocutor
When you're not willing to listen
To see
To feel

How do you keep faith that talk will work
When even they are insisting it won't?

I am learning to have hope in you
I am learning to see you as so much more
Than those actions I would never want to commit

You amaze me.
Born out of death to a life in a cage
Raised by colonialism
You did not accept imprisonment as natural
You did not accept hunger as justice
You did not accept
the ceaseless killing in so many ways
Of those next to you
Or those farther away

I love you
But I will never be yours
I don't want you inside me
You are too male for me

And I cannot, gratefully, fully silence the voice that insists:
Some deaths you did accept
Including of some who were listening

That is why the full statement that the question-marks pry me with reads:
It is sad, but I'm learning to have hope in Hizbulla

Maybe it is the naivety
of one whose life has never been directly threatened
I still believe:
Be the change you want to see in the world.

Seorang di bawah Pohon Meminta Selembar Tissue by m aan mansyur

(sore di sepi taman
di bawah sebuah pohon)

ia menumpahkan airmata

karena seseorang yang meninggalkannya
dan seseorang lain yang mungkin akan meninggalkannya

apakah anda punya selembar tissue? ia bertanya

(aku bayangkan pohon di atasnya
runtuh dan jatuh di tubuhnya)

hanya dibutuhkan airmata
buat membersihkan airmata

tissue tak mencintai pohon, kataku
lalu kembali berlari-lari kecil menjaga kesehatan
karena besar mencintai diri dan istriku

CINTA yang AGUNG by khalil gibran

Adalah ketika kamu menitikkan air mata
dan MASIH peduli terhadapnya..
Adalah ketika dia tidak mempedulikanmu dan kamu MASIH
menunggunya dengan setia..
Adalah ketika dia mulai mencintai orang lain
dan kamu MASIH bisa tersenyum sembari berkata ‘Aku
turut berbahagia untukmu’

Apabila cinta tidak berhasil…BEBASKAN dirimu…
Biarkan hatimu kembali melebarkan sayapnya
dan terbang ke alam bebas LAGI ..
Ingatlah…bahwa kamu mungkin menemukan cinta dan
kehilangannya..
tapi..ketika cinta itu mati..kamu TIDAK perlu mati
bersamanya…

Orang terkuat BUKAN mereka yang selalu
menang..MELAINKAN mereka yang tetap tegar ketika
mereka jatuh

kerawang - bekasi by chairil anwar

Kami yang kini terbaring antara Kerawang-Bekasi
tidak bisa berteriak ‘Merdeka’ dan angkat senjata lagi

Tapi siapakah yang tidak lagi mendengar deru kami,
terbayang kami maju dan berdegap hati?

Kami bicara padamu dalam hening di malam sepi
Jika dada rasa hampa dan jam dinding yang berdetak

Kami mati muda. Yang tinggal hanyalah tulang diliputi debu
Kenang, kenanglah kami.

Kami sudah coba apa yang kami bisa
Tapi kerja belum selesai, belum apa-apa

Kami sudah beri kami punya jiwa
Kerja belum selesai, belum bisa memperhitungkan arti 4-5 ribu nyawa

Kami cuma tulang-tulang berserakan
Tapi adalah kepunyaanmu
Kaulah lagi yang tentukan nilai tulang-tulang berserakan
Ataukah jiwa kami melayang untuk kemerdekaan,
kemenangan dan harapan
atau tidak untuk apa-apa

Kami tidak tahu, kami tidak lagi bisa berkata
Kaulah sekarang yang berkata

Kami bicara padamu dalam hening di malam sepi
Jika dada rasa hampa dan jam dinding yang berdetak

Kenang, kenanglah kami
Teruskan, teruskanlah jiwa kami
Menjaga Bung Karno
Menjaga Bung Hatta
Menjaga Bung Sjahrir

Kami sekarang mayat
Berilah kami arti
Berjagalah terus di garis batas kenyataan dan impian

Kenang, kenanglah kami
Yang tinggal tulang-tulang diliputi debu
Beribu kami terbaring antara Kerawang-Bekasi