Someday, dear mother haiku

someday, dear mother
i'll be strong and tall like you
bamboo shoots

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

Dusk haiga

A branch tanka

a branch
bathed in light
where the raven was--
holding onto my desire
to paint with colors


Published in A Hundred Gourds, Vol. 1:3, Summer 2012

Newly divorced haiku

newly divorced
another unused hanger
in the wardrobe


Published in A Hundred Gourds, Vol 1:3, Summer, June 2012

City dusk haiku

city dusk
shadows
overlapping


Published in A Hundred Gourds, 1:3, Summer 2012

Silent sea haiga

Published in A Hundred Gourds 3:3, Summer 2012

Raging water haiku

raging water
the jasmine in her hair
as i whisper

Being all ears haiga

Once again, may haiku appears in Haiga Online, June 2012 issue, for the art of Mary E Rodning.

Even the light haiga

White sky...haiga

A collaboration with Hendri Bundrawan

Silent night..haiga

Thanks to my colleague Esdoubleu Lie who contributes his haiku for the painting.

O, gentle wind haiga

Full moon haiku triplet

1/
full moon...
i promise to sketch her
a lotus blossom

bulan penuh...
kujanjikan dia sketsa
sekuntum lotus

2/
different
layers of silence--
full moon

sunyi
berlapis-lapis--
purnama

3/
as if my mom
reads me bedtime story
full moon

seolah ibuku
sedang mendongeng
bulan nan bulat