The woman is called Aceh

Oh God, since You have planted a womb inside me

I am a woman

Aceh, is my name

And in the womb You also have channeled a spirit

More than this I am also the people's paddy field

Oh men and women, I'm your mother

who cried at seeing your bodies pierced by bullets.

who keeps crying although her tears

are not meant to water the dry soil.

In severe pain, your breath has become part

of the sun and moon.

I wished a neighbor's son to become my heir

but who is he who has gunned him down?

Who is he?

Who?

My door has asked the ravens to return to their nests

because their shrieks have scared away the farmers from their land

their wings also burned all the houses

and the blood they spilled made the soil barren

I'm your mother and your paddy field

If you rape me, you assault your own mother,

who has risked her life for your safety,

who has divided her breath with you,

who has pumped blood into your veins,

whose marrow has fortified your bones.

But why you have aimed your gun at my body,

burned the house which I built for your old days?

My son, come and lead the ravens to their nests

so that I can have a rest before the dawn breaks

Because tomorrow I'll go

to harvest the paddy and coffee for you, dear

so that no famine will hit this country

I'm your mother, although Aceh is my name

I beg you, please don't rape me

and all your own sisters who also are called Aceh.

Also stop killing your own brothers.

My children,

I have begotten you as men and women

so let me, together with the sun, sow peace.

"Oh God, give me strength.

I'm a woman who is soothing my own children

and trying to bury the lust for power.

Amen."

(The poem was presented in a dialog on violence in Aceh, organized by Women's Solidarity in Jakarta on June 16).

- By Putu Oka Sukanta

- Translated by TIS