Bila, berujar kau. Dua tanka

Sebagai pemula dan murid haiku yang lambat, saya tidak terlatih menulis dalam bahasa Indonesia. Bukannya tidak mencintai bahasa nasional, saya mulai belajar dengan menulis dalam bahasa Inggris karena hanya bahasa itu yang bisa menjembatani saya dengan para guru saya. Tidak di Indonesia, mereka tinggal di berbagai titik di bola bumi ini. 

Kalaupun ada naskah berbahasa Indonesia, lazimnya itu adalah versi kedua atau terjemahan saya dari naskah aslinya. Beberapa teman secara halus mengkritik saya karena kebiasaan itu. Jengah dan malu juga tiap kali saya mendapat "teguran" semacam itu. Maka, tidak cuma satu dua kali saya mencoba menulis dalam bahasa Indonesia. 

Naskah berikut ini beberapa dari sedikit tanka yang aslinya saya tulis dalam bahasa Indonesia.

::

1/
bila, berujar kau
ombak berhenti datang
menyambangi pesisir
diam-diam bayangan kita
lebih dulu mencapai laut


if only those waves
stop reaching the shore
your voice indistinct
our shadows unnoticed
race towards the sea

2/
sepagi ini
ia sudah memanggilmu
kicau prenjak
dingin yang sibakkan tirai
datang atau pergikah?


still too early
the morning call
o little birds
our curtain waves to
the ebb and flow of air

Enough, she said tanka

1/

enough, she said

I stop pouring tea 

into the cup 

my ex used to sip from 

before it's cold

2/

so slowly

it runs before me

o river, river

it's the trembles in her hands

that wash me all over

Bamboo rustle

bamboo rustle
grandfather tells him
about growing tall

Three tanka

1/
sleeps too deep
or so it seems to me
roadside mimosa
her diamond earrings glisten
with the first light

2/
the scent of cut hay
from the harvested field
you shall set it free
once you said about my dream
that sleeps in a heap of grass

3/
we lose them 
one after another
after certain age*
will you catch me
when i'm a falling petal

*Inspired by Murakami's 1Q84

Sleep too deep tanka

sleeps too deep
or so it seems to me
roadside mimosa
her diamond earrings glisten
with the first light

A rosebud and singing cicadas tanka

1/
a rosebud in my garden
too lovely to overlook
behind this window
i welcome the morning light
as if the blooming last forever

2/
perpetual echo
of your voice in my ear
you against me
over the reason to love
cicadas singing in the trees

Mother tanka

I took my kids to visit my mother in my hometown last week end. Not a long trip, it usually takes no more than for hours driving. I wrote these two tanka during the visit.

Two tanka for my mother

1/
in wooden armchair
my mother no longer knits
slip, stitch and pass
the piece she made wholeheartedly
was raising a wayward son

2/
the meaning of getting old
my mother told me about
hair loss
I realize how hard it is
to say an early goodbye