Baca EPUB: indonesia-sings-of-afro-asia

BINTANG RUSADI

Indonesia Sings of Afro-Asia

Kacabenggala Editions

Publisher Note

dedicated to the

II nd Conference of Afro-Asian Writers

Cairo, UNITED ARAB REPUBLIC

February, 1962.

design by Basuki Resobowo

translation by Bintang Suradi

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All original rights remain with their respective publishers and translators. Where copyright has expired or the material falls under fair use for preservation, the text is reproduced for historical study.

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“The earth and all its riches

Ave yours from this time onwards

The blazing sun in the colourless sky

Dissolves our sorrow in a wave of warmth

Its burning rays will help to dry forever

The flood of tears shed by our ancestors.”

PATRICE LUMUMBA

THE DEAD WILL LIVE ETERNALLY

GREETINGS FROM A FRIEND

DAWN OVER PALAM

HAIKU VARIATIONS

YESTERDAY DAN TODAY

ASIAN-AFRICAN SOLIDARITY

THE STRUGGLE OF EREVAN

Aidit, D.N.

THE DEAD WILL LIVE ETERNALLY

For many years, I have not wept

not because my eyes are dry

or my heart is stiff with cold

but this time unawares

my head and heart could not endure

and my tears moistened the morning paper;

A black man white of heart

murdered by a white man whose heart is black

But is it not the murderer who has been killed?

Lumumba will live forever

Lumumba died to live eternally

Today this earth is not for the black white man

but for all

white, yellow, brown, black

Now the air is filled with Lumumba

for Lumumba stands for freedom

Anantaguna, S.

JAMILA

The world did once inflict a wound

but understanding rose from within

One touch of light in the soldier’s breast

and willilingly she accepted death

for she herself is the world and holds life in her hands

for she herself is the native land and the fruit of love

Another touch came down at dawn

and she defended all her dreams

The world has inflicted a wound

but consciousness was conceived within its womb

One draw of breath in the soldier’s breast

and she did profess herself

slowly but without complaint

for she herself is time and the blaze in the Sahara

for she herself is liberty and free in imagination

Another draw as night did fall

and away she flung the world full of wrath

The world has inflicted a wound

but she herself is the world and holds life in her hands

Apin, Rivai

PEKING

Do not say that the night it as hard as granite

Since here in China not a stone is left unworked by the people

Here nature is like marble

Everything is carved and polished by the hands of working people building culture.

The cruel Peking wind has no equal

The nights are heavy with dust yet from bustling cracks

The rumble of mountain rocks being split booms forth

In the night in the night the whirl wind gathers strength

And still people are at work tempering the steel

From the stones split in the night is born the morning twinkling

And the fountain of sparks forged by the blows of the smith

Are the stars in the sky, the medals of the workers.

Ashar, M. S.

TO UNCLE HO CHI MINH

We bid you welcome, uncle Ho

Although we always meet

Are not you, uncle Ho

a tale of the mighty jungle and of fragrant flowers

each bud that falls infusing a thousand energies

into those that bloom?

And didn’t the sun once refuse to set in your country

and dusk did not descend:

a new road for the new man?

Ah, we too have our tale of sun and jungle

kissing and hiding the bodies slain

mending the torn threads of history

with sweat and love together

And we who still stand erect

we too are just emerging from the mud

Strength on the right, hope on the left

clearing a new road for the new

A friend will soon pass by

With a beating heart that stores memories

And blood that gushes forth

the same, same ideals

We bid you farewell, uncle Ho

Although we never part.

Bandaharo, Hr.

AFTER PANMUNJOM

to Major Yoon Gil

After Panmunjom

everything maimed

except ideology

the imperialists vented their malice

on things and innocent people

everywhere destruction

everything in ruins

corpses of partisans piled up

and no two stones standing

after Panmunjom

nothing has been steeled more

than the people

ideology unmaimed

people steeled

that’s a giant creator

Korea stands gloriously erect

on the red soil

Tjung, Benni

PARTNERSHIP

to Mario d’Andrade

I too am called upon—angola

urges each niche of feeling to open up

I can’t sit down with folded hands

when people are deprived of independence

what then is left, oh contemporaries?

I dare not look at the faces

of those still young

angola

because these ranks are not alone

I raise this partnership:

Solidarity for you.

Bedjo, Kr.

GREETINGS FROM A FRIEND

to the patriotic sons of the Congo

greetings to you, beloved friends

best sons who break asunder the chains that bind you

the doomed, the exploiters and oppressors, have run

but now a don juan parades the street wooing you

a beautiful girl just freed from bondage

advancing courageously along your chosen path

greetings to you, beloved friends

best sons who break asunder the chains that bind you

stride on! and if, as happens, a traitor sneaks in

to the patriotic ranks right up to the very front line, cast him out!

I believe in your strong body, I firmly belief

that your hand will surely grip the radiant day

I lift my hands high

in ardent salute for you, beloved friends

from my honest heart on top of the lighthouse illuming the thousands islands

Kuntjahjo, S.W.

DAWN OVER PALAM

to M. Achuttan and S. Mukkerjee

A swarm of crows flies over Palam

but not as a sign of mourning

in the east a crimson red floods the earth with light

and the full moon lingers in the sky

US Airforce planes rise arrogantly into the sky

in the bars the officers loaf

but here, the Aeroflot stands splendidly

bringing Bernal and Nazeeha with peace in every heart.

Njoto

HAIKU VARIATIONS

to Yoko

Flowers on the aerodrome

hearts beat in union

two fighters embrace

Fuji and Kenji

nature is there to be harnessed

man to be won

III

The Uji flows

Senji’s spirit marches on

relentlessly

Chimneys without smoke

the soil is hot

the spirit is hot

Triumph of mankin

waves that roll o’er the roof

when will the people be master

Simosiki

soldiers departed smiling

returning ghastly pake

VII

Hiroshima

atrocities unbridled

turned to boundless struggles

VII

On the right tidal waves

on the left the beaches

the train is heading for Sendayaya

Thank you

domo arigato

half my heart I leave behind

Risakotta, F.L.

YESTERDAY DAN TODAY

to the Arab people

yesterday a peasant

a soldier without rank today

he lies prostrate in Beirut

the tale still shakes the earth

with trampling steps the colonialists swallow cities

everything withers and lies scorched

no time to gaze at sweetheart and parents

where will sorrow go

where

the enemy steps in front

yesterday a peasant

a common soldier today

he lies prostrate in Beirut

facing victory in his heart

over the dust of the roads

heavy steps resound

the Arab patriots enter town

their voices echo in the hearts

arise ye Arab patriots

the age of victory is right ahead

yesterday a peasant

a soldier true today

in Beirut he was slain

in Beirut he will live again

Situmorang, Sitor.

ASIAN-AFRICAN SOLIDARITY

It is a law of human society

To meet and talk together

Since solidarity

Is the breath we breathe

It is a law of life

To work and eat together

Since the rice and bread we share

Is indispensible to friendship

To work together, eat together

(water is the bread we drink)

Is the law of laws

The sphere of liberated people

It is a law of human society

To build and build

Friendship of all continents

Freedom for each, nation

This is the harmony of all harmony

The oppressed people of Asia and Africa

Sudisman

THE STRUGGLE OF EREVAN

Erevan the heart of Armenia

has barren mountains rising high

the snowy cap of Mount Ararat white as foam

melts and flows to the Soviet-Turkish border

For centuries Lake Sewan in did in trout abound

and silently she saw oppresion

lovely Armenia lay stiff and cold

her bones covered with dried-up skin

crawling up in resistance

the struggle of Ajastan, of Erevan

On November twenty-nine in the twenties

Erevan’s struggle found its throne

red silk fluttered

changing humiliation into shining faces

the barren hills bear iron ore

densely rise the electric poles

and Ararat’s wines refreshes the thirsty

Lake Sewan bends it clear water down for coal

The glittering gold sens beams

Electric light the child of times

the fruit of love Erevan’s struggle

Erevan has become young again

the twitter of the swallows resound

accompanied by native tones

Come, clap your hands and dance and sing

Erevan’s struggle glows fiery red

triumphant now and tomorrow

human fingers are subjugating nature

gone forever lamentations, laughter was born

gone forever privations, nirwana was born

Erevan’s struggle rejoices happiness