Three Short Poems About Light

By Sapardi Djoko Damono

/1/
A light, lost
among the skyscrapers,
searches in vain for
her shadow.
“Are there any lights
who do not have a shadow?”
wonders the light,
as evening falls so quickly
and the sun calls for her
till he is hoarse.

At night, so many
shadows hang around
the tall buildings.
They come across the Lost One,
and say, almost in unison,
“But you’re not my source!”

/2/
One day
a very bright light
sets out in search of her source.
After traveling through forests,
following mighty rivers,
crossing mountains,
and traversing snow fields
she arrives
at a desert.
A shadow
very long
very black greets her.
“I am your source,” she says.

Exhausted and worn out, our character
the bright light
stops and replies only yes,
even though she is suspicious
how could it be in a desert
so wide and flat
where there is not even a single figure
a shadow can be created.

/3/
When I wake up this morning,
I discover a small light,
left over from last night,
hiding in the corner of my room.
I almost don’t recognize her,
until when I am almost out the door
she says, “Close the door again,
quickly,
I can’t stand to face
the light out there!”
Of course,
their sources are different,
I think.
“Who said that!”
rebukes the blinding light outside.

Percakapan, from Damono Sapardi Djoko. Melipat Jarak : Sepilihan Sajak 1995-2015. Cetakan kedua ed. PT Gramedia Pustaka Utama 2016.