Linear : Poems/puisi/imaji/images By Taufik Darusman Andrew Tani & Co. First printing, May 2002 xii + 86 pp

Few would disagree that Taufik Darusman is an achiever. He used to lead the Indonesian Observer, and is the deputy publisher of the business magazine Capital and the deputy secretary-general of the Alliance of a New Indonesia (PIB). A newspaper editor, a businessman, a politician. And now, with his new book, Linear, maybe even a poet.

The goal of Linear is noble but overly grandiose: to integrate words and images to make a complete whole, and, as Darusman himself proposes in the foreword, to be a "celebration of life".

However, his poems are not for the light of heart. Revolving around classic themes such as overcoming difficulty, and the meaning of life, they are introspective, philosophical reflections, the tone ranging from quiet desperation (see Ballad) to inquisitive and dreamy melancholy (see Reflection #2).

Many reverberate with Existentialist echoes reminiscent of the book of Ecclesiastes. In a particularly moving passage from Reflection #3, Darusman writes: "One day to another/Passes without/Meaning and sense/They appear alike/Moving towards the same directions/The loss, destruction/Of purity/The loss of balance..."

However, a few of Darusman's poems also contain glimmers of hope to counteract that nihilism. Especially inspired is the exhiliratingly joyful end of To Whom?: "Amidst my loneliness/I notice a light/That offers hope/I feel free/I feel released/Now..."

However, some poems reek of cliches. In Waiting, he pontificates that "Fate is hard to predict". As though we've never heard that one before. "But no mountain is too high to climb," he later writes, which instantly caused Tammy Terrell to belt out her old hit Ain't No Mountain High Enough in my head. Though I hardly need say it, the mood was spoiled.

Unless you've been living in a black hole for the past 50 years, it's plain that Darusman's ideas are nothing original or innovative.

But although, and perhaps partly because his poems are full of familiar themes and ideas, some are moving. A few possess insight. The reader senses that Darusman has published a slightly edited diary, similar to one's own diary in its concerns and feelings, and sometimes its obscure meanings to all but himself. Sometimes his poetry overflows with heartfelt honesty in its questions and moods, but other times it only aspires to "utter a new word".

Darusman's terse, prose-like style supports the simple, though important subjects of his poems.

Unfortunately, the word choice and syntax sometimes obscures the meaning. Sometimes it seems that the translator has chosen the most complex, incomprehensible way to word a passage.

As for Darusman's attempt to integrate words and images, his compilation is little more than some interesting poems intermixed with postcard-pretty pictures. Like some of his poetry, Darusman's book contains too much fluff disguised as substance.

As a poet, Darusman may not be highly gifted, but his ability to occasionally move the reader with raw expressions of thought and emotion is undeniable. So is the well-developed voice that speaks throughout his poems, which seems oddly familiar in its heavy questions, ruminations and even its joy. Perhaps Darusman is echoing our own inner voices. Perhaps that's why you might be touched by Linear.

-- Tania Budihardjo