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.