Mon Geudong

On the salty, sweat-soaked streets,
scattered memories
born from the mass marriage of wheels and footprints
young grips once hardened there
when the crowd of government workers
showed off their limp chests in the crowd

Unfortunately, those hardened memories
were unable to bring happiness to the altar

Decades later
the road was wetter than an ocean of virgin tears
washed by troubled desires
dozens of people's representatives once collapsed there
failing to install stakes
above a pool of thorny tributes
supported by the qanuns* of the drama

Qanuns: local regulations.

Note:
Mon Geudong is a village in Banda Sakti District, Lhokseumawe City, Aceh (Indonesia). I was inspired to write the poem above when the armed conflict was still going on in Aceh. I don't remember very well what exactly sparked the idea to write the poem. However, during the conflict, I once witnessed from a distance, a policeman was shot there and the perpetrator fled on a motorbike through an alley.

Maybe the poem above was inspired by one of the incidents and the events that accompanied it. I don't remember anymore because I didn't write specifically. That's where writing is important because memory is a fragile root in the midst of a world that races beyond light.

Thank so much for @appriciator for support me.[]

The poem above has been published in Erakini.

Mon Geudong

Di atas jalanan asin kuyup keringat itu,
berceceran kenangan
lahir dari perkawinan massal roda dan tapak kaki
genggaman muda pernah mengeras di sana
tatkala keramaian kuli pemerintah
memamerkan dada lunglai di keramaian

Sayangnya, kenangan mengeras itu
tak mampu membawa kebahagian sampai pelaminan

Berpuluh tahun kemudian
jalan itu lebih basah dari samudra air mata perawan
diguyur hasrat yang gundah
puluhan wakil rakyat pernah terkulai di sana
gagal memasang tiang pancang
di atas genangan upeti berduri
yang disangga qanun-qanun sandiwara

Catatan:
Mon Geudong adalah sebuah desa di Kecamatan Banda Sakti, Kota Lhokseumawe, Aceh (Indonesia). Aku terinspirasi menulis puisi di atas semasa konflik bersenjata masih terjadi di Aceh. Tidak terlalu kuat lagi dalam ingatan, apa persisnya yang memantik gagasan untuk menulis puisi tersebut. Namun, semasa konflik, aku pernah menyaksikan dari kejauhan, seorang polisi ditembak di sana dan pelakunya melarikan diri dengan sepeda motor melalui sebuah lorong.

Mungkin puisi di atas terinspirasi salah satunya dari kejadian tersebut dan kejadian-kejadian yang menyertainya. Aku tidak ingat lagi karena tidak menulis secara khusus. Di situlah pentingnya menulis karena ingatan adalah akar yang rapuh di tengah dunia yang berpacu melebihi cahaya.[]
Puisi di atas sudah dipublikasi di Erakini.