I Walk Amongst Them

Rating:	★★
Category:	Books
Genre:	Literature & Fiction
Author:	Chairil Anwar

I walk amongst them
They who cornered me
Into a face/off
On the side of the street.
I see the world through
Their eyes. I follow them
Through the hacking crowd.
The reality as they see it.
(The Capitol is playing
American flicks,
We dance
To all the top ten hits.)
We go home
Not a hair out of place
Though death
In all its guises
Is all around us.
We huddle at a stop
Wait for the City tram
In the deep of the night.
I pray for those who read
My scribbles out of love.
I pray for syphilis
And leprosy (and
The simple matter
Of the atomic bomb).
This is the proof
Of our independence:
I open my arms
To the living:
Those who can see
The darkness I see
And the darkness
In me.