Expatriate
By Goenawan Mohamad
Akulah Adam dengan mulut yang sepi
Putra Surgawi
yang damai, terlalu damai
ketika bumi padaku melambai
Detik-detik bening
memutih tengah malam
ketika lembar-lembar asing
terlepas dari buku harian
Dan esoknya terbukalah gapura:
pagi tumbuh dalam kabut yang itu juga
dan aku pergi
dengan senyum usia yang sunyi
Langkah akan bergegas antara pohonan lenggang
bersama bayang-bayang unggas, bersama awan
Sementara arus hari
menyusup-nyusup indra ini
(Adakah yang lebih tak pasti
selain tanah-kelahiran
yang ditinggalkan pergi
anak tersayang)
The book's translation:
I am Adam of no word
Heaven's child
at peace, too at peace
when the earth beckons me
Moments translucent
turn white in the night
when foreign pages
slip from the diary
And tomorrow a gate will open:
morning rises from the very same mist
and I depart
with the silent chuckle of age
Feet hastening between sparse trees
in step with the shadow of birds, of clouds
While the course of the day
seeps into the senses
(Is there anything less certain
than a homeland
left behind by
a beloved son)
Chaosbeowulf's translation:
I am the silent Adam
A child of Heaven
Peaceful, too peaceful
When the earth hails me
Translucent moments
Whitening midnight
When foreign pages
Are detached from the diary
And the day after, the gate is opened:
Morning grows in its very mist
and I depart
with silent smile of ages
Rushed strides between sparse trees
Together with shadow of birds, and the clouds
While the course of the day
gently nudge the senses
(Is there anything more uncertain
than the land of birth
that was left behind
by the beloved child)
Comments, anyone? A practice of English now and then won't hurt me.....
