Thursday, 28 August 2008
ROTTERDAM, PEACEFUL EVENING

tantum series iuncturaque pollet

Poems

Distinct from its neighbor, the Verses collection presented contemplations in form of poetry and brief sentences that ponder daily reflections as well as special occasions. To enrich the scheme, a selection of quotes from fine men and women covering a wide span of periods is attached in this section.

Senangnya si Anak Jalanan

Banyak yang bilang aku kotoran kota Banyak yang tuduh aku bandit kecil Banyak yang vonis aku anak rusak Biarlah... aku toh tetap senang

Kau tahu kenapa aku senang? Justru anak-anak dan orang-orang macam kau bikin aku senang ! Ya, kau itu yang sedang membaca lamunanku ini… iya, kau ! Oh bukan… bukan karena sumbanganmu yang cuma seperseratusribu jajananmu…

Aku tahu itu memang banyak bagiku, tapi kan kau menyumbang sebetulnya bukan karena aku, tapi supaya kau sudah merasa jadi dermawan kan ?? Baguslah kalau kau senang dengan menyumbang, tapi aku senang bukan karena sumbanganmu…

Aku senang justru karena kau tidak senang …. Kau sering memandang golonganku rendah, tapi sebetulnya, asal kau tahu, kami pun sering kasihan dengan golonganmu….

Aku hidup dari hasil keluyuranku di jalan, mengganggu orang katanya, biarlah… Tapi kau? Kau yang sudah berkumis dan berdada besar masih terus minta disuap mama-papa mu… Sedangkan aku ? Minta sarapan dari emak-ku saja aku tidak tega, itu artinya dia buang uang…

Lebih baik dia jual makanan itu ke warung buat ditukar obat nyamuk buat adik ku yang tiap malam menangis diserang nyamuk-nyamuk comberan… Comberan yang isinya kotoran rumah mu… Yah, kau mungkin tak bisa mengerti… aku maklum kok, kalau pendingin kamarmu saja rusak, kau sudah teriak-teriak dan merengek-rengek susah tidur… Kawan, kau tak tau artinya susah tidur… apalagi cuma alas tikar robek …

Biarlah… aku toh senang… Aku senang karena emak ku justru ingin sekali membuatkan sarapan karena aku tau dia sayang aku, karena aku tau dia ingin aku sehat… Aku juga senang karena dia tau aku tidak tega minta sarapan karena aku sayang adik ku Aku senang karena kita saling tau betapa kita saling mencintai

Sementara kau, kau dapat semua yang kau inginkan karena rengekanmu, apa pun yang ayah-ibumu berikan akan selalu kurang … Bagaimana mungkin kau akan bisa senang, hai anak tak tahu diuntung? Bagaimana orangtua mu bisa tau kalau kau sayang mereka ? Dengan rengekanmu ?

Tentu saja kau akan selalu dibabibutakan dengan omelan dan amarah mereka … Dan kalau begitu, kau tuduh mereka tidak sayang padamu…. Aku mungkin kotoran kota, tapi hatimu lah yang lebih kotor! Aku bikin kotor perempatan, tapi kau bikin kotor kasih sayang keluargamu…

Itu semua karena kau bodoh ! Itulah juga yang membuatku senang, melihat segala kebodohanmu Sungguh aku tidak mau jadi orang sebodoh kalian !

Kau sungguh bodoh tidak melihat kemegahan rumahmu Lebih bodoh lagi tidak bisa menikmati hidangan babu-babu mu Paling bodoh ialah kau buta terhadap kasih sayang orang tua mu Tanpa orang tua mu kau mungkin sama denganku, di pengkolan sana, menganggu mobil-mobil yang lewat supaya kita bisa makan tempe goreng…

Oh, aku salah… kau tidak akan sanggup mandi tanpa sabun, kau tidak akan kuat kotornya jalanan, kau tidak akan bisa puasa sepanjang taun… Siapalah yang tau akan jadi apa kau tanpa santunan mereka …

Terlebih lagi Kawan, kau tidak akan mau punya emak seperti emak ku yang tidak akan bisa membelikanmu pakaian necis, apalagi sepatu bagus…. Iyalah, bagaimana mungkin kau mau emak macam itu, sementara handphone yang kau punya saja kau sudah bosan, mobil yang kau setir bagimu masih kurang hebat… Kau teror terus orangtua mu supaya kau dapat mainanmu… Aku mungkin bandit kecil, aku suka ganggu orang lain… Tapi kau banditi sendiri orang yang melahirkan dan membesarkanmu …

Aku senang karena emak ku tidak punya anak macam kau... kasihan dia… Kalau aku rengek terus emak ku supaya bisa sekolah saja, bisa sakit jantung dia kerja sampai mampus… Tapi kau ? Kalau perlu kau ambil juga jantung orang tua mu supaya kau bisa hidup dua kali dengan uang mereka…. Apa ? Tidak mungkin ?... Yah, kupikir tadinya juga tidak mungkin seorang anak berani kasari orang tuanya…

Berani-beraninya orang vonis aku anak rusak… bagiku anak baru rusak kalau berani kurang ajar ke orang tuanya… namanya juga ‘anak’ yang rusak …. Coba kau tanya emak ku, kapan aku berani sakiti dia apalagi bikin dia marah …

Aku senang dengan hidupku sekarang Aku senang aku masih bisa bermain Aku senang aku tidak kena bencana maha dahsyat Aku senang terkadang bisa makan dua kali Aku senang tangan-kakiku bisa kupakai

Tapi Kawan, aku paling senang karena aku bukan engkau... Aku kotoran kota, tapi kasih sayang keluargaku tetap jernih Aku bandit kecil, tapi emak ku anggap aku malaikat Aku anak rusak, tapi aku tidak merusak segala berkat yang kuterima

Ah sudahlah, lebih baik aku ganggu mobil-mobil itu lagi daripada melamun.... nanti aku sama bodohnya dengan kau ...

-Rotterdam, 11 Januari 2005

Other Titles

Dearest Mother, I Love You

A Certificate of Love

Alone This Christmas

A Solemn Christmas Carol - Asian Tsunami Disaster

Historia est vitae magistra

Quotes

Some phrases are worth remembering or at least glanced through once and again. Indeed, their worthiness is often boosted by the person behind the words. This selection provides a very small fraction of those phrases from renowned ladies and gentlemen from various periods. Although they are listed in no particular order, updates will be placed on top for comfort reading.

Dalam masa yang penuh cobaan ini banyak idealisme yang padam, banyak semangat perjuangan yang kendor, banyak pemimpin yang luntur, namun kita yakin ... bahwa bangsa kita akan selalu memiliki kekuatan untuk pada suatu waktu menghentikan proses yang hendak menghilangkan hasil, cucuran darah dan percikan keringat dan meniadakan hasil pengorbanan dan penderitaan bangsa kita.

Revolusi kita baru selesai selangkah. Revolusi kita itu harus kita teruskan dan rampungkan. Modalnya tidak lain ialah semagat revolusi yang sudah tertanam dalam tubuh kita.

Selama darah revolusi mengalir dalam tubuh kita, selama itu pula tidak ada rintangan yang tidak dapat kita atasi.—A.H. Nasution

Gitu aja kok repot …—Abdurrahman Wahid

Now how about our Land of Birth, Indonesia? Thick fog blankets the country. People live like cavemen, kept in the dark. Noble and holy character and love of country like that possessed by the Japanese, French, and Dutch are still below the surface here. If this description is accurate, can our people move ahead like other nations? … Of course, we can if there are leaders to enlighten our people.—Raden Soetomo

Once you open that Pandora's box, you'll find it full of Trojan horse—Ernest Bevin

Any woman who understands the problem of running a home, will be able to understand the problems of running a country—Margaret Thatcher

Stalin, comrades, is such a figure that many historians will break their teeth trying to learn about him, and there will still be something left to learn—Nikita Krushchev

The Dutch are graciously permitting us (Indonesian) entry into the basement while we have climbed all the way to the top floor and up to the attic—Muhammad Hatta

An honest politician is one who, when he's bought, stays bought—Simon Cameron

I had rather be right than be President—Henry Clay

I demanded the abolition of the death penalty in the Assembly... But Louis must die that the country may live—Maximilien Robespierre

No one can be a king and not do harm—Louis Antoine de Saint-Just

Scarcely is there any peace so unjust that it is better than even the fairest war—Desiderius Erasmus

Knowledge itself is power—Francis Bacon

There is a difference between imitating a good man and counterfeiting him—Benjamin Franklin

If there were no bad people, there would be no good lawyers—Charles Dickens

Those who stand for nothing fall for anything—Alex Hamilton

Drama is life with the dull bits cut out—Alfred Hitchcock

The central challenge we face today is to ensure that globalization becomes a positive force for all the world's people, instead of leaving billions behind in squalor—Kofi Annan

Man, an animal that makes bargains—Adam Smith

Politics are too serious a matter to be left to the politicians—Charles de Gaulle

Verses

Brief Contemplations

This section contains personal short contemplations where most of them are inspired by daily affairs and predicaments. For comfort reading, the updates will be placed on top. Although all of them are original, in case of similarity with quotes from they who enjoy the benefit of fame, I presume I must yield. Nevertheless, minds are irreproducible and contemplations will be of greater use when shared.

Don't bother about the crap in life; just remember the lessons learned from them... For crap that buried properly will nourish the blooming flowers ... Instead, think and be grateful of the things we already have that other people can only dream of ... Think of the much bigger crap that happen to the people around... Only then we can truly enjoy a good life... Only then we can enjoy the real beauty of a smile and experience the utmost joy of a laughter...

Changing opinions is not necessarily a sign of inconsistency, but may also be a sign of continuous thinking.

Alone and loneliness are two mutually exclusive things, one doesn't need the other.

Humanity has come this far and yet wars are still being waged – just more civilized, so they claim…

A good child does not simply obey his parents but give them the respect and love they deserve.

A thief is as legit as a priest to tell people not to steal. The problem is not on the messenger, it’s on the listener.

Holy Scriptures do not use holy words and sentences, they promote holy hearts.

In the afterlife salmon is the proudest fish of all – he can say to the other fish that he swam against the stream for his beliefs and die.

Sincere smiles and laughs are a fraction of heaven – imagine how we can make our lives a paradise.

Difference between good and evil is crystal clear – you just need the right amount of light and the correct angle to see it through clearly.

The most spoken language is not English, but the language of love. Too bad, there are very little courses that teach it, and even less good students…

The crusades are the perfect miniature of all conflicts of mankind: catastrophic mayhem of greed in the name of holiness with unbearable cost and no winner. Even worse, they go in series with humankind as the big loser.

If people gave applause when Emperor Augustus was dying, I want them to give standing ovations on my time.

A well-mannered gentleman might carry two handkerchiefs: one for him and one for his escorted lady; but he certainly does not carry two hearts as a spare when one is broken …

Candlelight dinner supposedly meant for both hearts to outshine the candle.

The clock is ticking, so is our heart beating. What else do we need to realize that our dying time is closing? Make the best out of the beats left in us.

Identity defines who you are; integrity defines what you really are…

One of the biggest insults to love is when someone defines it as a mere lust.

A serpent may be dangerous, but at least it does not start with seduction….

A dead parent leaves profound sadness and loss, a walk-away parent marks an open wound…

The ultimate praise to God is not through songs and devotions, but to make someone else praise Him for knowing you.

Love is not blind; we just refuse to open our eyes…

Acquaintance is someone you greet. Friend is someone you have fun with. Good friend is someone you feel comfortable around. Best friends are people who greet each others’ hearts.

Man and boy are biological descriptions – father and son are affectionate depictions.

God and religions are like conductor and tablatures in an orchestra – if it is out of tune it’s because the players can’t read the tablature in front of them and play in harmony as conducted.

A frosty winter may kill with its temperature, but a cold heart can make millions suffer with just a stroke of pen or by simply doing nothing…

Childhood and purity started altogether; unfortunately adulthood and maturity do not.

Deliberate oblivion of oneself through ecstasy for pursuit of fake pleasure is an utter disregard to the completeness of human kind.

The real questions are not whether the cup is half full or half empty – but how can it be filled and with what.

There are no dead languages – there are only murdered languages; thus let us hope that the language of love will survive for eternity.

Humanity responds to benevolence as it does to music – people like different kinds of music with various expressions, but they all concur the concept of music itself is astounding yet simple.

To act like a gentleman is a temporary mask and merely a façade, meanwhile being a gentleman is a lifetime commitment to virtues and honor…

The worst agony of life is the one created by oneself, not others; accepting that it was not made by others will ease the pain for knowing oneself can change it …