 painting by I Gusti Ayu Kadek Murniasih (Murni), Bali, Indonesia, 1966-2006. In Memory of Murni – for the painter, I Gusti Ayu Kadek Murniasih – “i was pregnant at the time” you wrote on the back of a small painting i saved to remember you by the painting tells the story the figure of a woman already showing chewing the end of a hay straw in a cage of turquoise-green Murni, you don’t need to be with child your spiritual children already roam as free as light “i want a child of my own womb” your words of rue seed-heads withering in your home garden Murni, your innermost womb has borne you many children more than you realize you imparted the essence of your soul to children who use wheelchairs you gave them the brush, canvas, colour and the whole painful travail spilled out as the painting we weren’t expecting and now, Murni, in that peaceful place perhaps you’re painting angels sobbing for the womb’s loss or depicting the face of God in every colour of human suffering (2010) Wayan Jengki Sunarta, translation by Brian A. Salmons Mengenang Murni – untuk pelukis I Gusti Ayu Kadek Murniasih – “saya hamil saat itu” tulismu di balik lukisan kecil yang kusimpan demi mengenangmu lukisan itu bercerita sosok perempuan hamil muda mengulum benih bunga dalam sangkar hijau toska Murni, kau tak perlu hamil anak-anak rohanimu telah mengembara sejauh cahaya “aku inginkan anak dari rahimku,” ujarmu pilu pucuk-pucuk ilalang mengering di halaman rumahmu Murni, rahim batinmu telah memberimu banyak anak melebihi yang kau duga kau bagikan saripati jiwa pada anak-anak berkursi roda kau beri mereka kuas, kanvas, warna dan segala dera derita tumpah jadi lukisan tak terduga Murni, kini, di alam damai itu mungkin kau melukis malaikat yang tersedu kehilangan rahim atau menggambar wajah Tuhan dengan warna-warni derita manusia (2010) Wayan Jengki Sunarta Brian A. Salmons lives in Orlando, Florida. His work has appeared in Eyedrum Periodically, NonBinary Review, Ekphrastic Review, Poets Reading the News, The Light Ekphrastic, Eratio, and others, including an anthology forthcoming from YellowJacket Press. He is the host of @BrianAndTheNight, a poetry podcast on Facebook. Wayan Jengki Sunarta is a writer from Denpasar, on the island of Bali, Indonesia. He started writing in the early 1990s and has published extensively in Indonesian, including seven poetry collections, three short-story collections, a novel, and a travelogue, and he has been included in more than fifty anthologies. His work has been published by a variety of prominent Indonesian journals, including Kompas, Koran Tempo, Media Indonesia, Java Post, Bali Post, Indopos, Kalam, and Horizon. He has been awarded or nominated for several literary awards and is active on the literary scene in Indonesia. His most recent published work is the poetry collection Amor Fati (Pustaka Ekspresi, 2019).
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The Ekphrastic Review
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January 2021
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