The late Subagio's poetry reflects love
The late Subagio's poetry reflects love
Dan Kematian Makin Akrab (And Death Becomes More Friendly);
Subagio Sastrowardoyo; PT Grasindo, 1995; 152 pages
JAKARTA (JP): A collection of poems by the late Subagio
Sastrowardoyo entitled Dan Kematian Makin Akrab (And Death is
Becoming Closer) was recently published by PT Grasindo, Jakarta.
There are one hundred poems selected from poetry written at the
beginning of his career in 1957 and up to the 1990s.
One of the poems that I like most is titled Paskah di Kentucky
Fried Chicken (Easter in A Kentucky Fried Chicken Restaurant). It
is typical of Subagio's poems, which open with simple statements,
then, as they develop, gradually become constructions of thoughts
that wittily stimulate us to think wisely, while arousing our
emotions.
This poem is written in a free verse style consisting of
seventeen lines; it has neither a rhyme scheme nor stanzas to
divide the ideas. The first five lines read as follows:
Bagaimana akan makan ayam goreng ini
kalau tiba-tiba aku melihat bayi
menangis di gendongan -- karena lapar
dan perempuan kurus mengorek sisa roti
di tong sampah di muka restoran?
(How could I eat this fried chicken
when suddenly I saw a baby
carried on the back, crying -- of hunger
and a skinny woman scavenging for bread crumbs
in a dustbin in front of the restaurant?)
At a glance, these first five lines have nothing special to
convey. No authentic expression that poetically arouses our
sympathy with the poor the poem is seemingly aiming at. The first
lines imply no more than a cliche which people everywhere in this
country like to repeat so as to emphasize that what we need today
is to raise our solidarity by sharing our possessions with the
poor.
Poetry is a way of communicating with the world. Poems are
eye-openers through which people can see what is wrong with their
surroundings. Novelty in poetry is required by readers because it
is the vehicle for the artist's revelation of his or her
character. Since poets are members of society, they commit
themselves to interaction with people who socially experience the
same circumstances. They are not supposed to be true believers,
who follow folk ideas or socially acceptable mores blindly. This
means poets are expected to live with the people, while having
their own individual perspectives, which can open up a new path
for society to walk on. Beyond doubt, writing poetry is a self-
expression of a poet's superb gift. W.S. Rendra has said that in
creating poetry, it is his honor that is at stake.
Those first five lines of that poem do not seem to show that
Subagio Sastrowardoyo has something significant and praiseworthy.
But, when I continued reading the following three lines, the
boring idea of the first five lines gradually changed into a
significant view. The fried chicken, then, seemed to remind the
poet of sufferings and anguish that people had been experiencing.
As I read further, this particular American food turned into a
very luxurious meal which the poet could no longer enjoy because
it was in contrast to what was happening in the world.
Subagio continued:
Coca-cola terasa kesat di tenggorokan
ketika teringat kepada muka-muka ceking
di rubung lalat hijau di gurun pasir
(The Coca-cola felt dry in the throat
remembering the wasted faces
swarmed over by green flies in the desert)
The sand of the deserts of Africa suddenly appeared in the
poet's mind as an endless vista of tedious days and nights
stretched before him. Famines happen every year in Ethiopia and
people die of starvation. Almost every day, people all over the
world have seen such views broadcast in television news. The
wasted children over which the flies swarm stare at us, asking
questions without speaking them. The volunteers who helped the
starving adults and children of Ethiopia are really heroes. What
those volunteers have done is acts of self-denial by living
dangerously without feeling strange amid diseases, shortcomings
and hard times. Subagio was embarrassed when he started to eat
the food. That is why he continued to say:
Kapan berakhir musim kemarau
disebelah selatan? -- Mahluk terkapar!
(When will this drought end
in the south? -- The scattered creatures!)
So sad was Subagio to think of those poor people, he asked a
question. But it is not one which demands an answer. The author
was well aware of the fact that it is impossible to say why evil,
jealousy and hatred dwell in the human mind and heart. The poor
people in Ethiopia are victims of a regime busy waging war to
gain more political power.
The world, in this case, is like the theater of the absurd, in
which people live with uncertainty. To have dinner in a Kentucky
Fried Chicken restaurant with a glass of Coca-Cola, to Subagio,
was like recreating the last supper of Jesus and 12 twelve
followers the night before he was crucified. The flesh of the
fried chicken suddenly changed into Subagio's own flesh and the
Coca-Cola changed his blood which was like ritual wine. It seems
that Subagio started to think of sacrificing himself by changing
himself into food for the famished people whom he had never
known. He said further:
Mari, potong-potonglah tubuhku
dan nikmati dagingku -- roti yang paling putih
dan darahku -- anggur yang paling murni
sampai tinggal hanya tulang-belulangku lunglai
terkulai di dahan.
(Come, do cut my body into slices
and enjoy my flesh -- the whitest of bread,
and my blood -- the purest of wine,
until my bones are exhausted
hanging down on the branches).
To me, Subagio realized that only a few people are ready to
commit their lives to the dream of peace and love. This is so,
even though they may have done many things out of concern over
human rights.
Famines overwhelm the populations of many parts of the world,
while in the other parts people produce and trade the arms which
induce further suffering. Wars break everywhere because of racism
and prejudice. As the world heads for economic globalism,
materialism reigns, and along with it prejudice and selfishness
grows. Those famished people are not simply social phenomena of
the society in which they exist, rather they are the whole
world's problems. Does this indicate that having dinner in a
Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant is really the last supper
because human beings in the world are on a razor's edge? To
conclude the poem Subagio wrote:
Eli, Eli, lama sabakhtani -- Tuhan, Tuhanku
Mengapa kami kau terlantarkan?
(Eli, Eli, lama sabakhtani -- God, my God,
why have you forsaken us?)
The last two lines, which are a paraphrase of words spoken by
Jesus in his dying moments, are now Subagio's authentic
expression of despair. The Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant,
which is in fact a heartless phenomenon of the capitalist system
supported by the economic globalism, has been changed by Subagio
into a place to pay attention to neglected people.
This is typical of Subagio's attitude toward people. No
speaking out heroically is needed because the poem itself is a
witness to a thoroughly unjust world. It is also a gentle appeal
to our senses of honor and compassion as human beings.
Bakdi Soemanto is a lecturer at the School of Letters, Gadjah
Mada University, in Yogyakarta and a staff member of the
university's Center for Studies of Culture and Social Change.