2009-06-22 - 4:30 p.m.
Happy birthday, Jakarta!
My beloved city of the polluted sky
keeps on suffering as you age
four centuries and 82 years
overcrowded with ungrateful residents
officials, regulars, and never-ending wannabes
overloaded with waste and leftovers
inedible, yet indestructible
sucking in every last bit of decent space
as each weary soul picks up their pace.
Happy birthday, Jakarta!
My beloved city of the starless sky
Once I met a star
brightening the gloomy nights in my eyes
banishing me demons when the time was right.
I showed you to my fallen star
secretly hoping he'd never have gone too far
leaving my soul behind with this ugly scar.
Happy birthday, Jakarta!
My beloved city of the same old sky.
I'm still right where I am
while the star travels as he pleases.
Nothing to be damned
just one gullible little girl
with her silly, impossible wishes.
Will she survive again this time,
among the cold, heartless souls,
catching another next train
to a plastic, temporary world of success?
Is there a cure for this unspeakable pain,
something to seal this gaping black hole
somewhere deep inside my wretched soul?
For now, allow me to disappear,
right in your arms without any fear.
The Author
