Poem Taken From a Newspaper Item

by Manuel Bandeira

Sweet Johnny was a porter in the open market and lived in a numberless shack on Babylon Hill
One night he went into Twentieth of November Bar
He drank
He sang
He danced
Then he threw himself into Rodrigo de Freitas lagoon and died drowned

I first found this poem from a book by Sapardi Djoko Damono, entitled "Bilang Begini Maksudnya Begitu" and it was the Indonesian version. Then I found that English version from the internet, from google book "Brazilian Women Speak: Contemporary Life Stories". 

Here is the Indonesian version.

Sajak Berdasarkan Sebuah Berita di Koran

Si John Periang adalah seorang pesuruh di Pasar Petani dan tinggal di Bukit Babilonia di sebuah gubuk yang tak bernomor
Pada suatu malam ia pergi ke Warung Dua Puluh November
Ia minum
Ia menyanyi
Ia menari
Kemudian ia menceburkan diri ke dalam Telaga Rodrigo de Freitas dan Tenggelam

I may write more about poems in the upcoming posts. I don't promise.

20 Minutes to Free Write

The first assignment of Wordpress Writing 101 is to take twenty minutes to free write. Here I go.

It rains outside. An Indonesian puppet master, Sujiwo Tejo once said that "If you can't make a poem when it rains then you're ...." I forget what he actually said. It was something like "not romantic" or "doesn't have feeling", or something like that.

I've just realised that I've never posted my poem in this blog. The last time I wrote poem was in 12th grade. I was 17 or 18 at that time. That was a short poem like this

Senja

Pagi ini kulihat senja

Senja?

Percayalah, itu senja

Translation:

Dusk

This morning I saw dusk

Dusk?

Believe me, that was dusk

I remembered that was a last-minute poem. I procrastinated a lot (I still do).

Back to the rain. If I have to write a poem about rain right now it would be like

Rain lightly

Softly

I'm not gloomy,

just sleepy

Duh. I need more practice in writing poem.

It's April 6th and I'm going to have pediatrics written exam on April 17th. I have to revise soon. 

I also have to think about what I should write in my undergraduate thesis. I consider psychiatry. I've thought about one title but I'm required to write three titles first. Those three titles will be validated then I will write thesis with only one title. Why three?!!

Talking about April. If I'm not mistaken, it's supposed to be a dry season in Indonesia. Correct me if I'm wrong. Global warming affect the seasonal change, I guess. You know, Sapardi Djoko Damono's poem "Hujan Bulan Juni" means June rain. What's so special about "June Rain"? When the poem was written, the seasons still changed regularly so June was a dry month. At that time, there was no rain on June. The poem "Hujan Bulan Juni" talks about June rain that longs for the flowery tree but it keeps its feeling secret. How do you interpret it? Who do you think June rain is?

Now I'm going to write a case report and look for the three titles, I guess.

My Favourite Poems

One of my favourite Indonesian poets is Sapardi Djoko Damono. Many of his poems are short and composed with simple words. I wrote some of his poems in a post before. 
I recently found translation of some poems by Sapardi Djoko Damono. I personally think that translating poem is difficult and often, the translation doesn't create the same emotion as the original one. However, there are some good English translation that I want to share. Here I will write both Indonesian and English versions.

Aku Ingin

aku ingin mencintaimu dengan sederhana:
dengan kata yang tak sempat diucapkan
kayu kepada api yang menjadikannya abu

aku ingin mencintaimu dengan sederhana:
dengan isyarat yang tak sempat disampaikan
awan kepada hujan yang menjadikannya tiada


The poem was then translated by John. H. McGlynn.


I Want

I want to love you simply:
in words not spoken
tinder to flame which transforms it to ash

I want to love you simply:
in signs not expressed
clouds to the rain which makes them evanesce

That "Aku Ingin" poem is quite popular here. It talks about love in simple words while the meaning may not be so simple.

Another good translation that I found is "In Children's Hands" from the original work, "Di Tangan Anak-anak".


Di Tangan Anak-anak

Di tangan anak-anak, kertas menjelma perahu Sinbad
yang tak takluk kepada gelombang, menjelma burung
yang jeritnya membukakan kelopak-kelopak bunga di hutan;
di mulut anak-anak, kata menjelma Kitab Suci.

"Tuan, jangan kauganggu permainanku ini."

That poem was translated by Harry Aveling and became like this one below.


In Children's Hands

In children's hands, paper becomes Sinbad's boat
unconquered by the waves, become a bird
whose calls open flowers in the forest;
in children's mouths, the word is Sacred.

"Hey mister, please leave my game alone."

The interpretation can vary. So let your imagination show you what this poem is about.

Note: If I make mistake in writing the poems, please let me know because in poem, every letter, mark, and space matters.