Sukra's Arrest<\/p>\n
- variation on the Babad Tanah Jawi<\/p>\n
My name is Sukra. Born in Kartasura, 17.., early one Tuesday
\nmorning, as the moon rolled behind the mountain.<\/p>\n
At that time, people say, the dogs in the jungle bayed long and
\nloud, and a retainer remarked, \"A jackal's cry was heard the day
\nthe Kurawa children were born.\"<\/p>\n
My father, a blue-blood of power, paled.<\/p>\n
Before his eyes appeared a vision: the trees, all taking their
\nleave and departing, never to return.<\/p>\n
On my 21st birthday, I was arrested.<\/p>\n
Dust returns to dust<\/p>\n
Footsteps hide in earth<\/p>\n
When Sukra was dragged away<\/p>\n
The whole of Kartasura said nothing<\/p>\n
His father cried in the wind<\/p>\n
And the women in their mirrors<\/p>\n
\"My prince, my lovely prince<\/p>\n
my eyelids are on fire!\"<\/p>\n
What's wrong? Why am I being arrested like this, out of the blue?<\/p>\n
The soldiers said nothing as they covered my eyes.<\/p>\n
The horses moved. I tried to discern direction and distance.<\/p>\n
But, of course, it was no use.<\/p>\n
An intensely long gyration, an intense prickling of guesses, was
\nthis journey of mine<\/p>\n
Until, finally, the procession stopped.<\/p>\n
The place was quite.<\/p>\n
\"Tell me, my friend, where is this place?\"<\/p>\n
\"Do not speak, young sir; in a moment you will learn for
\nyourself.\"<\/p>\n
There was a room I could not see<\/p>\n
A tremor convulsed through the room I could not see.<\/p>\n
They loosened the cover from my eyes. And I saw for the first
\ntime the dark that follows twilight.<\/p>\n
And then I knew, after that, what my fate would be.<\/p>\n
That night the Prince, the Crown Prince,
\nhad unsheathed his will.<\/p>\n
Who is the traitor<\/p>\n
Darkness or hate?<\/p>\n
Why does a fate of seven daggers<\/p>\n
Stand before this young man<\/p>\n
\"Do you know, Sukra, why you were ordered to be brought here?\"<\/p>\n
(Weapons tapped the floor)<\/p>\n
\"No, my Lord.\"<\/p>\n
\"Do you think yourself a brave man?\"<\/p>\n
No, I am not brave. The eyes of the Crown Prince were not quite
\nvisible, but I could feel jaws grinding together inside his puffy
\ncheeks, causing the shadows to stir.<\/p>\n
\"You oppose me.\"<\/p>\n
I heard the sound of horse's hooves scraping on the gravel.<\/p>\n
\"You insult me, you wantonly display your charm, you belittle me,<\/p>\n
You entice my women, you pollute my kingdom.<\/p>\n
Answer me, Sukra.\"<\/p>\n
The night was a wall, a wall<\/p>\n
on which the shadows of javelins played.<\/p>\n
\"I know nothing of that, my Lord.\"<\/p>\n
The moon floundered to earth<\/p>\n
Before morning arrived<\/p>\n
\"Beat him, here!\"<\/p>\n
My God, scarlet lies<\/p>\n
You wish to taste the bitterness of blood<\/p>\n
\"Put ants in his eyes!\"<\/p>\n
The whole of Kartasura said nothing<\/p>\n
A Poet's Final Day, One Afternoon<\/p>\n
A gloomy day, the wind was blowing. I counted the trees, one
\nby one<\/p>\n
There was no world more different: wilting leaves, ever more
\nsilent<\/p>\n
The sun passing, in subsidence, as hours hung heavily, and the
\nday waited<\/p>\n
For utter completion, my God, for utter completion<\/p>\n
And then You came, to greet an uninvited poem<\/p>\n
At high noon, on a day of no discernible weather<\/p>\n
The day grew chill, my God, as the wind waited, ever ready<\/p>\n
To leave me in my busyness and for love to steal away<\/p>\n
-- Goenawan Mohamad<\/p>\n
(Translated by John H. McGlynn)<\/p>\n
(Taken from Menagerie 2 by the courtesy of The Lontar
\nFoundation, Jakarta)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/sukras-arrest-1447893297",
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