Hands

My hands are beautiful,
And so are yours.
Their nails are not as long as tulips,
But they are round like the moon.

Yes, we have moons in our hands—
They can shine in the dark.

Our hands have done many things, created many works.
Remember when you painted for your sister,
and she was very happy and thanked you for that?
I remember when I cooked you some crackers.
They didn’t have uniform shapes,
But you couldn’t taste the flour or the eggs
Because I mixed them well
With my hands.

If you see the grass and think it means nothing to us,
It doesn’t mean it’s worthless.
Some people need it to cure their pain.

So do our hands.
Someone else may underestimate them,
But as long as we can give our best through our hands,
As long as we can do even one little thing with our hands,
Then there’s no reason to doubt their worth.

Someday, we will win somebody’s heart
With our hands.

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Nothing’s Wrong

Nothing’s wrong.
The river flows to the waterfall,
to the lowest place.
The sun sets in time,
giving the rest of its light to the moon,
so the stars can build constellations.

I just wish the tree could appreciate my breath,
the only way to show I’ve used the oxygen it gives.

Nothing’s wrong,
and there’s no time to blame myself,
when my kiddo falls from her bike
and scrapes her knee.
I should’ve kept her balanced.

But no!
Somehow, she has to hurt;
someday, she’ll understand,
not all good things come from good incidents.

Nothing’s wrong,
while the world keeps spinning around.
We are human
and we love ourselves.

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Ibu Pertiwi Melahirkan Puisi

Ibu Pertiwi melahirkan puisi
bertunaskan helai demi helai huruf
cabang-cabang kalimat
bait-bait rindang
bunga-bunga diksi dan rima
buah-buah amanat
yang kaupetik saat tak ada lagi
makanan yang dapat kaulahap

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Bediding

Pawana memelukku erat
Semalam
Melekatkan dingin
pada kulitku
Menggetarkan belulang
dengan gigil

Gemintang sibuk menuntun kapal-kapal
di laut
Batara Candra menebar pesona
pada gadis-gadis pemimpi

Sampai jingga merekah
di timur
Pawana memelukku
kian erat

Ia terlampau kesepian

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Grasshopper

I’m sorry, grasshopper
For having picked spinach leaves
From the place where you close your eyes
Before jumping to another leaf
I need vegetables for my salad
Like you need leaves for your food too

The food chain is sometimes heartless
We can fight just to get a banana leaf
For you to eat
Or for me to wrap my food

But don’t worry
There will still be millions of plants growing
Hoping for rain and sun
And the kind hands that care for nature
Hands that don’t mind getting dirty
Or touching worms

What do you want, grasshopper?
A forest to live in?
A garden to stop by?
The earth is still breathing,
Though gasping for breath
And you are part of life
Without you,
Birds might not survive

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