Afrizal Malna was born in Jakarta in 1957. He studied for a time at the Driyarkara College of Philosophy in Jakarta before dropping out.
In common with the work of Joko Pinurbo, a prominent theme in Afrizal Malna’s poems is the material aspects of urban existence. He is fond of juxtaposing images from daily life in a noisy, almost chaotic, manner, and the titles of some of this poems reflect this: ‘Anthropology of Coca-Cola Cans’, ‘Red Fanta for the Gods’, ‘Migration from the Bathroom’, ‘English Lesson on Body Weight’. He seems keen on finding links between objects in his poems, seeking – in his own words – a “visual grammar of things”. This intimation of secret connections among objects informs much of his poetics.
i tap my knees, there is a land collapsing. listen.
this land is like a saturday night that has died.
like a river strolling across a bridge. knees are
...
i just mopped the floor. i walk on tiptoe, so that
the floor i just mopped isn't made dirty again
by the soles of my feet. in our room, i see your
...
there is a yellow color spouting in my heart. why
did you come too early and put on those yellow
ears? no. i did not come, not too early, nor did i
put on yellow ears. i'm just the yellow color in
your heart.
...
for 10 days i have been in a train,
returning and going to the same city. in
that train my eyes are always focussed on the
...
i don't believe my own hands, which this morning
burnt hundreds of schools in my own city, schools
for my own children. i don't believe my hands
which lit the flame, i don't believe the flame which
...