Just One Day Comrade One comrade brings three comradesEach one brings five comradesHow many comrades do we have?One comrade brings three comradesEach one brings five comradesIf we are one factory, imagine comrade!If we are one heart comradeOne demand united in voiceOne factory one forceWe are not dreaming, comrade!If one factory united in heartStrike with one …
An odd puzzle that night we got together and talkedfrom our mouths no grand issues emerged;we talked about our hopes,things simple and understandable one person had been hoping for a long timeto add on a kitchen to the place he rentswhich reminded othersthey didn’t own a saucepan, kerosene stove,drinking glasses, or frying pan,which made them …
I am Still Whole and the Words have not yet been Destroyed I am not an artist that makes newsbut for certain I am always bad news forthose in power my poetry is not poetrybut dark sweaty wordscrowding each othersearching for a way outthey refuse to dieeven though my eyeballs are gouged and replacedthey refuse …
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The Ballad of the Bullet where is the muzzle of that gun? I’d like to explode and at the same time turn into a bulletseek your forehead, aim towards your deathsee Your soul take flightand I will chase it with my own soulso I will know where Your house isI am ready to kill myselfCertainly, …
What is the Worth of my Poetry? What is the worth of my poetryIf my younger sibling did not leave for schoolbecause the school fees could not be paid?What is the worth of my poetryIf my father’s pedicab suddenly breaks downIf rice had to be bought with moneyIf we have to eatAnd when there is …
Kampoong/Village as morning breaksthe rubbish piles upchildren scolded by mothershusband and wife shouting as morning breaks the rubbish piles upleft and right argumentschildren cryinghusband wife fightingin turn with the radiopeople push and shoveto get to the public well then teenage girlsleave the kampung for the factoriesreturning in the aftternooneyes wrinkled with exhaustionliving lives of no choices and …
My neighbour next door my neighbour next doorcan make very good flutes from bambooand can play many tunes my neighbour next dooroften borrows the guitarto sing with his children one of his ears is ruinedstruck with a rifle butt my neighbour next doorlives as if behind fortress wallsalways watchingchecking for danger my neighbour next doorwas terrorised before Kalangan-solo, …
Say your words if you are not willing to ask you will be drowned in decisions if you withhold your words your mouth cannot pronounce your desires robbed you will be treated like a stone thrown away, discarded or plucked out like grass or open mouthed can be filled with whatever taking no …
Old man his skin brown burnt by the city sun his cheeks charred swept by hot windshis energy sucked awayon the highway earlierfather is snoring nowand as tomorrow morning loomsin my mindthat double decker bus suddenly changesto become a great fishand the trishaws are like sardineshelpless Solo, June 1987 (Translation of Sajak Bapak Tua) Source:Asia Pacific …
Songs of the Grass Roots the roads are widened, we are displaced, building the kampung, evicted, we move and move, sticking onto walls, uprooted, thrown out; we grasses need land, listen! Join us, let’s become the president’s nightmare! (Translation of Nyanyian Akar Rumput) English Translations from Bahasa Indonesia byDoreen LeeDepartment of Anthropology, Cornell University Source:The …
