Train In Rainy Season Poem by Afrizal Malna

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
passengers' bags. i ask if maybe there is a
swimming pool inside their bags. maybe there
are also restaurants for dinner. but their
bags are silent like themselves. maybe the
passengers are building a house inside their
bags, when they are silent. when all of the
passengers start to sleep, i play with their
bags. i enter their bags. ow, i find chocolate and
salted egg. faded name cards. i put on the clothes they
carry in their bags, then i make a dinner party
with the clothes in their bags, like
opening a city.

don't cry anymore, i say. outside, time is
walking behind us. outside, there are no
more bags in which to hide ourselves.

Translation: 2010, Andy Fuller