Rasus Budhyono
indonesisch
The Dream
She has full, soft lips and is beautiful.
How he knows she is beautiful who can say?
She may be the image of the Malay bride on the travel-guide’s cover.
But she is faceless, not frightening,
and her bones curve with devotional time.
He is kissing her. They are naked. Then she is singing
in the only African language he can understand.
Her voice is a young woman desiring a child.
She is singing the lullaby or nursery-rhyme with an elusive melody
that he has heard before, years ago, in another dream.
The echoing of her song could undo him if allowed to,
but before he can summon a word they are inaudible again.
Aus: Two Images
Audioproduktion: Literaturwerkstatt Berlin 2010
Mimpi
Bibirnya merekah, lembut, dan indah.
Entah bagaimana lelaki itu tahu kecantikannya.
Adakah ia jelmaan potret pengantin Melayu di majalah?
Ia tak menakutkan, hanya tak ada ekspresi di parasnya,
dengan tulang pipi yang melekuk seiring waktu khayali.
Lelaki itu menciumnya. Mereka telanjang. Nyanyiannya
berlagu satu-satunya bahasa Afrika yang dikenal lelaki itu.
Suara itu adalah suara perempuan muda merindu anak.
Alunan nada ayun ambing yang menina-bobokan.
Dulu sekali, di mimpi lain, lelaki itu pernah mendengarnya.
Bila mungkin gaung itu dapat membawanya kembali ke sana.
Namun sebelum satu kata pun datang, semua kembali senyap.