See ya’ in 2008

This is likely to be my last posting for 2007.

And I just feel like sharing one of my favorite pieces by the late Chairil Anwar …

When I started my career in journalism back in the early 80s, I often quoted and discussed this piece with friends in the office.

At the time, we—a bunch of young, foolish and arrogant journalists—thought we were the only ones in the huge office interested in this kind of literary product.

Cheers to the good old days!

DERAI DERAI CEMARA

cemara menderai sampai jauh
terasa hari akan jadi malam
ada beberapa dahan di tingkap merapuh
dipukul angin yang terpendam

aku sekarang orangnya bisa tahan
sudah berapa waktu bukan kanak lagi
tapi dulu memang ada suatu bahan
yang bukan dasar perhitungan kini

hidup hanya menunda kekalahan
tambah terasing dari cinta sekolah rendah
dan tahu, ada yang tetap tidak terucapkan
sebelum pada akhirnya kita menyerah

1949

PINES IN THE DISTANCE

Pines scatter in the distance,
as day becomes night,
branches slap weakly at the window,
pushed by a sultry wind.

I'm now a person who can survive,
so long ago I left childhood behind,
though once there was something,
that now counts for nothing at all.

Life is but postponement of defeat,
a growing estrangement from youth's unfettered love
a knowing there's always something left unsaid,
before we finally acquiesce.

1949