I Wish
I wish I could love you with nothing but grace
with the words a wooden branchlet can’t say
to the fire that’s turning them to ash
I wish I could love you with nothing but grace
with the cues the cloud can’t show
the rain that delivers her into oblivion
(1989)
*
Aku Ingin
aku ingin mencintaimu dengan sederhana:
dengan kata yang tak sempat diucapkan
kayu kepada api yang menjadikannya abu.
aku ingin mencintaimu dengan sederhana:
dengan isyarat yang tak sempat disampaikan
awan kepada hujan yang menjadikannya tiada.
(1989)
Sapardi Djoko Damono (1940–2020) enriched Indonesian poetry with his celebrated collections, including
Duka-Mu Abadi (1969),
Hujan Bulan Juni (1994), and
Kolam (2009). His work has appeared in multiple English translations, including those by Harry Aveling, Hasif Amini, and John McGlynn. In the 2000s, Sapardi published his own work through Editum, which he managed with his wife, Sonya Sondakh.
Norman Erikson Pasaribu is a Toba Batak poet and translator. Their translations have appeared in
Modern Poetry in Translation, Cordite Poetry Review, Wasafiri, AAWW’s
The Margins, and
Asymptote Journal’s Blog. In 2017, Sapardi Djoko Damono picked them as the Southeast Asian Literary Council’s (MASTERA) Sastrawan Muda.
