even often offered a drink of sugar syrup
from the tea plantations that grow wild
all over my body
3//
then I decided (suddenly!)
the eyes of this poem
must run to the house of mourning
injected with high doses of eye medicine
then I became
a witch
who is unable to see the sunlight standing
upright every morning
4//
tonight
after the rain and lightning came to the yard
pitch dark
i have to finish
reading the holy book
with my left eye
dancing by itself
i have to be strong, you messaged
until we can meet again
in the expanse of the new sky
without any more
blinding cries
or infectious diseases
a snake has been killed
may peace be upon this heart
Jakarta, January 2024
POEM OF THE YEAR 2024
fragments of ancient time
exhaled-
from a pile of loneliness
battered in the corner of the heart tainted by prolonged struggle
anxious
terrible
deadly, you said in a thin, dry voice
poverty is there at every
end of the year
don’t want to be recorded
in poetry
centuries
conversations
never healed
look at
whose spirit should be burned
eternal fire
on the lampstand
always burning
never extinguished
despite being blown by the wind
dry season
wet weather
everything is never finished
until the year closes and opens
like there is a wild judgment
floating
released from all positions
stabbed with a battle knife
let it be
time keeps running
life must surrender
until we arrive
at the sea of glass
with the name of a poet
fruitless
Jakarta Thursday, January 4, 2024
Pulo Lasman Simanjuntak, born in Surabaya, June 20, 1961. Last education at the College of Publication (STP/IISIP). Wrote his first poem entitled IBUNDA (MOTHER) published in the KOMPAS Daily in July 1977.
His poetry has been published in 7 solo poetry anthologies, and 35 poetry anthologies with poets throughout Indonesia.
His poetry has also been published in 23 printed media (newspapers, weekly newspapers, and magazines) and published (aired) in 231 online media (websites) and digital magazines both in Indonesia and Malaysia.
