Whereabouts in the sky

whereabouts in the sky
my heart beats in silence
fireworks crackling

di langit mana
jantungku hanya sunyi
dentam petasan

Satori; Chapter 20, haibun*

Men are fools, Solange thought as she left the house in Tokyo.
A few tears, a sparkle of en eye, the twitch of a hip, and their brains are as easily turned off like an electrical switch. 
Haverford was smarter than most, just as blind.
Like the rest, he sees what he wants to see and nothing more.
Nicholai, on the other hand..
Dommage.
What a shame.

lanterns in the breeze
in her mind, darkness and light
darkness and light

*The prose excerpted from Don Winslow's Satori, Grand Central Publishing, June 2011

Satori haibun

After Haverford left, Solange turned to Nicholai and asked, "Does it bother you?"
"What?"
"That I was a prostitute."
The question surprised him, " It's an honorable profession in Japan." 
"It isn't in France."
"I'm not french," Nicholai said, "There's nothing about you that I find to be anything but delight, a joy, and an honor. 
Solange came into his arms, kissed him lightly on the neck, and said softly, "I think I'm falling in love with you."

satori
from across the roji
fallen frangipani

"And I with you." His words surprised him as much as the actual emotion, something he had not felt for years, something he had taught himself never to feel again. It had been his experience that anyone he loved went away, usually through the portal of death.

in the cha-shitsu
the hiss of the kettle
between words

*The prose excerpted from Don Winslow's Satori, Grand Central Publishing, June 2011

Flight of the herons haibun

Suite No. 132 is at the end of the hallway, where nothing but a wide thick transparent glass is between me and the open air. The warmth creeps on my skin and drives away the shiver as I momentarily let the sun bathe me with light.

I notice the amber in the west a second before three knocks on the door. “Please, come in,” a female voice reaches my eardrum from the inside.

She rises from her chair the moment I show my face at the door, and rushes for a formal handshake with me.

outside the window
the flight of white herons

Chanel no. 5

I knew it won’t be a meeting we usually had in old days. “It’s been long, and you know where it goes,” she said emotionlessly. Not commanding, just a bit colder than her please-come-in.

years lost

what’s within the perimeter

of her deeper voice

Sheer loneliness haiku triplet

‎1/
lonely breakfast
a swan song
after the main dish

makan sahur
hidangan terakhir dengan
nyanyian angsa

2/
black coffee
the last sip of
solitude

kopi pahit
sesap terakhir
kesunyian

3/
sheer loneliness
the sediment in his cup
unspoken grief

sepi yang sangat
keluh tertahan mengendap
di dasar cangkir

Obituary for the koi

Saya kerap menghabiskan waktu bersama Saleh Abdullah dengan memancing di kolam kecil di halaman belakang kantor. Di kolam yang kami bangun 4 tahun silam itu, hidup berbagai jenis ikan; bawal, tawes, nila, gurameh, cethul, patin, gabus dan lele. Kemarin sore, seekor koi menyambar umpan di ujung kail saya. "Itu ikan pertama yang ditebar dikolam ini," kata Saleh. Ia menyebut ikan itu Sang Pembuka Jalan. Tentu, ia tak bermaksud memparodikan Tirtoadisuryo yang diceritakan dalam novel Pramoedya Ananta Toer, Sang Pemula. Ikan itu dimasukkan ke kolam untuk menguji apakah air sudah cukup sehat karena sebagian dindingnya terbuat dari semen, yang sering membuat air beracun bagi ikan. Dengan alasan itu, Saleh meminta saya melepaskan ikan koi itu kembali ke kolam. Dua haiku terlampir lahir dari hubungan antara saya dan ikan koi itu. Haiku pertama saya tulis semalam dan sudah saya unggah lebih dulu di blog ini dan grup Damselflys's Lament di Facebook. Di bawah posting di grup itu, pada ruang komentar, Saleh menulis; "Pagi ini, di salah satu sudut kolam, koi itu mengambang: mati...." Sore ini, saya menengok kolam tempat kami memancing kemarin. Benar juga, ikan koi itu --satu-satunya di kolam kami-- mengambang mati. Lalu lahir haiku kedua; 1/ sunny pond the only koi moves into my shadow terik di kolam satu-satunya koi menuju bayanganku 2/ by the pond his writing about the koi an obit of three lines di tepi kolam catatannya untuk si koi obituari tiga baris Setelah ini, saya tidak tahu bagaimana mendapatkan ide menulis haiku dari seekor ikan koi.

Sunny pond haiku

sunny pond

the only koi moves
into my shadow

terik di kolam
satu-satunya koi
menuju bayanganku

Early bird haibun

Awakened by the chill early this morning, she gazes at the wall clock hung on her gray wall. No ticking sound she can hear. "I need some new batteries."

early bird
under the sheet
his aftershave

::
Dingin yang merayapi kulit membangunkannya dini hari itu. Matanya melirik jam di dinding yang kusam. Ia tak mendengar bunyi detik yang biasa ia dengar. "Ah, aku harus mengganti baterainya."

bangun awal
aroma aftershave
di balik sprei

Washing dishes tanka sequence

1/
washing dishes
after a dinner for two
the hissing from the sink
sounds like nice words
we no longer mean to say

membersihkan piring
setelah makan malam berdua
desis dari pencucian
bagai kata-kata mesra
yang tak lagi kita ucapkan

2/
let me be
as she told me in anger
i noticed
the rose in the vase
withering petal by petal

tinggalkan aku
saat ia berucap marah
aku sadari
mawar dalam vas mengering
kelopak demi kelopak

3/
in my solitary garden
grasses mown last month
it's now overgrown
watered with hope and dreams
i can only let it go

di taman terasing
rumput yang dipotong bulan lalu
kini tumbuh liar
disiram harap dan impian
yang hanya bisa kuikhlaskan

Empty birdcage haiku

empty birdcage
children's laughter pierces
my mossy wall

sangkar kosong
tawa anak-anak menembus
tembok berlumut

Visiting dad tanka

visiting my dad
at his grave
it's deep enough
the hole I dug
to plant the rose


Haiku Pix Review No 3/Summer 2011

Withering leaves haiku

withering leaves
seconds to count
till dusk

dedaunan kering
detik-detik yang tersisa
sebelum senja

Gone too soon haiga