HANABIRAWA

Title: The Yearning of the Wind

Theme: Fears and Tears

The wind is inseparable from the trees

But can’t live in the forest

It races to the desert and the sea

Leaving the islands,

Leaving you behind

The wind in its travels brave gales

And is unafraid of losing the world

And tonight when it reaches the South Pole,

Penguins will bid it welcome

Their wings and legs caked in snow

The wind yearns for the teak trees

Gives flight to the fragrance-of-the-night

Lays out frangapini in the village’s bosom

I am the wind, tired of travelling alone

Cities, planes, the fumes of industry

Sicken and weaken me

God, send me back to the teak forest

Let me sleep in the banana leaves,

Lay me down in the hills that gave birth to me

Poetry by Eka Budianta