Quatrains Poem by Sapardi Djoko Damono

/1/

I sent you a few words
ones that are now rare -
if they reach you one day,
hide them, there's no way to understand me


/2/

the space that exists within a word
is like our home:
there are pictures, sounds, and gestures in it -
and yet we are forbidden to decipher it


/3/

for those who still believe in words:
silent is their surging core, pitch-dark is their heart of fire -
but when will we ever understand the sea?
and the eternal fire?


/4/

what do we find beyond words:
a flower garden? deep space?
in the garden, so many things are left unsaid
in space, so stark is the void


/5/

what else is left to cling on to? some words
insist on bursting through reality's edge -
upon reaching the other shore, will it still be meaningful,
to you, everything I want to say?


/6/

in every word you read there are always
missing letters -
you will find them again someday
amidst thickets of memories.


Translation: Hasif Amini and Sapardi Djoko Damono