In Memory of Murni, by Wayan Jengki Sunarta, translated by Brian A. Salmons

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).