Full Moon

Through savage journey and untamed fornication, I explore your entire body. It is here that I learn the meaning of nocturnal wails, the sobs of casuarina trees, the whispers of the drizzle and the chat of sleeping owls. But why let the evening conversation pass unheeded tonight, while we have aired new ideas? I cannot understand why you remain silent, while you know how I yearn to be near you. So, let the full moon enjoy the quietness and appear obeisant. And me, I'll sing in a meditative silence.

-- Ayik Sadat

Translated by TIS

Sending Waves

Often times the seagulls do not send signals to fishermen when the time to stop sailing and lower the anchor comes. But the sea has never left us alone, because it is life itself. And like farmers, who are waiting for paddy seeds to sprout, sets aside tranquility in the wind, sand and bubbles. So, when silence reaches its peak high in the sky, it sends waves in a poem.

-- Ayik Sadat

Translated by TIS

Epilogue about Birth

My grandfather was a common citizen. He came out of the womb of a dancer whose husband was a teacher. He grew up in an era of turmoil, where personal interests ruled supreme. Modesty was part of his life, although in his veins flows the blood of Airlangga * and the Syailendra dynasty.

When his only son was born, he called him Nusantara **. He rocked the baby in the cradle of the ocean, he caressed him with the blowing wind, taught him the discipline of the sun and the patience of mother earth. He also taught him the wisdom of carefulness and the power to understand divine signals, to make him always on guard.

Now, as I'm grow up and my body has turned into Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, Kalimantan, Nusa Tenggara and Irian Jaya, some people have assaulted me with swords, chopping my hands, piercing them into my chest, cutting my throat until I vomit of hearing the curse: You bastard!

* King of the 11th century East Java kingdom of Kahuripan

** Indonesian Archipelago

-- Ayik Sadat

Translated by TIS