Family retreat haiku

family retreat
more time and space
to weave a web

vila keluarga
lebih banyak ruangwaktu untuk
memintal jaring

Table manners haibun

Table manners

I was probably the clumsiest among others in my family at holding the spoon and fork. Unlike Mom, Dad, my sisters and brothers, I held the cutlery like holding a knife, instead of the way I took a grip on a pen. We didn't use a knife to savour a dish.

"Use your bare hands," my Mom said almost each and every evening when we had dinner with the whole family. "Wash them first before you start," my Mom added and moved a ceramic bowl of water towards me for hand washing.

family dinner
chinese dancer dances
in the bowl


Adab di meja makan

Dibanding anak-anak lainnya dalam keluarga kami, mungkin aku yang paling canggung menggunakan sendok dan garpu. Selalu saja aku memegang sepasang alat itu dengan cara yang aneh. Aku yang memegang sendok dan garpu seperti aku memegang pisau, bukan pena.

“Gunakan saja kedua tanganmu, tapi jangan lupa cuci dulu,” kata ibu.

makan malam
penari china menari
di kobokan

*Thanks to Alan Summers for his grammatical suggestion..

Sunday cooking tanka

sunday cooking
a soup for the whole family
after 18 years of marriage
noticing what we've missed--
a bit more spice

minggu memasak
sup untuk seluruh keluarga
setelah 18 tahun menikah
baru ingat ada yang kelupaan
rada kurang rempah-rempah

Family snapshot haiku

family snapshot--
everybody smiles
but my brother

foto keluarga
semua tersenyum
adikku tidak

Family gathering senryu

family gathering
starts with very long
personal introductions


Banjarnegara, not dated

Yellow feather bird haiku

family gathering--
a yellow feather bird
comes for visit


Wedomartani, November 15, 2009

Family gathering tanka

familiar faces
too many to memorize
names and numbers
all around the table
of food and laughter

Banjarnegara, September 22, 2009