Chapel Hill

stuck a pin in yr back bone !
but chapell hill hasnt got its own passaic
its spine a spine-tingling web of fronts running thru shop-windows
caribbean curry & parota shops, pawnshops selling prototypes of shark burgers
pickled, shredded, chili-ed hengstenberg rotessa apfelrotkohl
theres always something sweet in bitterness
try an earthen-jarred kimchi buried six feet under in the north korean border !
you want a range life ?
summer babes do handstands on joburg beaches' open bar tops
piña coladas spiked with antiseptic hand soap
youre crazed !
safari now, settle down never
the green hills of africa has gone panic-stricken
a lone olive tree stands at the pink edge of a mozambique desert
projet pour la protection des animaux sauvages ?
les hommes you mean ?
« Tsvangirai withdraws his party from election saying to continue would cost supporters' lives »
gokil, thats what i mean,
at uc san diego you study films and get your indonesian late '80s horror flicks' fix from mondo macabre
lady terminator v. jaka sembung bawa golok gak nyambung
starálfur !
youve seen them ? how did you stop yr heart from stop-beating ?
stop beating, stop breathin ! breath in for me, now !
cut yr hair and get a job
pretend you never go to graduate school
let alone harvard
im bored at lamont and everywhere else
or all souls
coz white men got no soul
thats how we got UB40
ah, the glory of early mid-'90s american indie !
it ran thru the moving walkways off my mind !
its just a possibility
all i ever wanted was to be yr spine

Puisi terpanjang dalam sejarah peradaban Hindu-Buddha bangsa ini

Seperti pernah saya janjikan waktu acara Bengkel Kata 'Tuhkan Ada Hal-hal Yang Belum Selesai!' BungaMatahari kemarin, yang live-blogging-nya (thanks to Yoshi's industrious insanity) bisa dinikmati di sini, inilah saatnya mencontek ide Benrik (sebenarnya saatnya seharusnya sudah beberapa saat yang lalu tapi saya memang suka melupakan saat-saat yang seharusnya penting dalam hidup saya) untuk memulai proyek 'Puisi Terpanjang Dalam Sejarah Peradaban Hindu-Buddha Bangsa Ini'. Caranya gampang, karena kan contekan, saya akan menulis baris pertama di posting ini, sebentar lagi, sabar, kemudian kalian, siapapun, silakan meneruskan di reply-reply kalian sampai selamanya. Syaratnya saya pikir cuma perlu satu, setiap reply hanya boleh satu baris saja, kalau mau dua baris bikin saja reply baru (tapi ingat, satu baris kan bisa panjang banget ! Jadi penderita logorrhea di antara kalian, tak usah khawatirlah !). Bahasa boleh apa saja, yang belum bisa Klingon belajarlah dari Google Klingon. Dan ingat, di reply thread multiply ini sekarang orang bisa bikin audio dan video reply, pergunakanlah ! Katanya cyborgs !

Ok, here we go, the first line in what let's make it happen, people !

« JEMARIKU LABALABA MERAYAP MENCARI SUDUT MEMINTAL JARING » *

* baris pertama ini dari clovique

Jolly Jolly Tropical Boston Tea Party ( A la Maison de Thé à Kebon Kacang depuis 2008 ) : Messrs. Twinings, Lipton, Pickwick, Dilmah étaient AWOLs, the bastards !

here you go clovique, mademoiselle
ive laced that cup of darjeeling with two acid tabs
would you like some scones to go with that ?
ive baked them in the shapes of a heart
broken in three
oven fresh
crushed thyme and jackys babies in the bread pudding
savouries in sweets
lets make the tips of our tongues go
tingly tingly hoppy hop o !
dont worry, thats not too much butter
on your cucumber sandwich
just an extra layer of love, monsieur univers noir
to go with the liquid e
in your hot chocolate, care for two balls of melty marshmallows
to dunk in your lake of sorrow ?
tante anya, welkom
i know youll get blackouts from even a little pot
so ive strained you a special brew of hashish
it came with a magic carpet you can take away
on your witches' getaway, dont forget to pack a torch
to shine on yourself when danger, a vampire, or really
just a general feeling of helplessness beckons
edophilippa, dont worry lah, havent forgot ya,
just stay in the corner, wait for your gingerbread men
ill make one with slits for eyes, tiny ideas of breasts,
and a pretty a-line skirt one can only get in senen
or portobello market, whenever love is in season
danarski, where are ya ? ah, there you are
step into the spotlight, thats where you belong ma'am,
no curtains for you !
oh hang on, dont be such pigs, not yet,
lets put our heads down
and pray to the lord above
our father who art in heaven
hallowed be thy name
thy kingdom come thy will be done
on earth as it is in heaven
give us this day our daily bread
never starbucks its too milky and expensive
nor oh la la its undrinkable
excelsos cappuccino toraja is the best
but i dont wanna push my luck
were pretty happy with what weve got now
dya hear us o, yoshi(not)mi, my lord of sweetness & light ?

(later that afternoon : « tea-master bitch ! vous m'avez abandonné ! »
tea-master bitch ( wiping sleep off his eyes ) : « pardonnez-moi, mademoiselle,
le thé et les amitiés sont la chose la plus dure à maîtriser ! »

Semakin Kaumenjauh, Semakin Kumendekat*

yah tentu, ive got more grudges
than lonely high court judges,
tapi tahu nggak kamu,
i am two people
both of them you dont know
and you dont want to
memang semakin kau menjauh
aku akan semakin membabi buta
menggoogle namamu
sudah 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Next sekarang
kenapa kau umbar pesonamu ke technorati
sementara dalam kamar kau hambar seperti peti mati ?



* singalong dengan primavega

Their City Jakarta*

* aeons ago i joined the Asia Blogging Network when they promised me free space on their 'My City Blogging Channel' to write whatever i wanted about jakarta. whatever ! my city ! ha ! the followings are writings i did for them that they subsequently unilaterally without any prior or after the fact notification took off the blog and labeled 'private', true stories about this city that you proles can never ever read. until now :

Private: no time 4 verse
Oleh mikael_johani January 14th, 2008 pukul 12:14 pm

manymoonsagoafterpitchersofheinekenandplatesoftacosatchilisstadium! cheapesexorbitantnomineralwaterthreehourslater: therooftopof mangga besar!

a tiny room with a 10-inch polytron, prayermatscoveredinimentoswrappers, t h   e n     e       on G L   O R    Y rimbaud had not the chance to see.*

*arthur rimbaud visited batavia in early august-early december 1876 as an enlister in the dutch colonial army.


Private: radit hearts jani not
Oleh mikael_johani January 14th, 2008 pukul 12:06 pm

in the year 2058 people will ask:

whatever happened to janis leopard print boots?

how could anyone decipher vino gs glottal shouts?

the green velvet seats in the second hand japanese buses look pretty though

and the early morning sunshine on faharanis face as she thought of

future ice cream dates at dilapidated cikini bodega hang outs

—free wi fi

makes you think

this city is all sweetness and lite

when theres no desire left in you

to stand up and fight.


Private: bermain layang layang di taman kompleks penuh kambing kambing kecil mencari makan di hari pertama 2008
Oleh mikael_johani January 14th, 2008 pukul 11:54 am

benang gelas diulurkan

damai dikuburkan


- the rest of the writings i did for them, that they deemed public enough !, fuckin police state !, you can still enjoy here, arent i nice still linking them, handing them more traffic they dont deserve and when theyve for all intents and purposes put the brakes on me !

dicari : puisi

Start:	Jun 16, '08 11:00p
End:	Jun 17, '08
Location:	anywhere the wind blows

nur wahida idris, penyair yg bukunya 'mata air, akar pohon' baru diterbitkan penerbit [sic] yg juga menerbitkan 'otobiografi' saut situmorang, katanya sedang mengumpulkan puisi buat jurnal puisi baru. jurnal ini, seperti nur wahida idris sendiri, akan berbasis di jogja.

kalau mau kirim2, tanya2, silakan email bukupuisiindonesia@gmail.com

Naga Terbang John K.

half a tablet at 8.30 and off we went
to a wooden birdcage

filled with men half-raising whisky glasses to someone elses' faces

so bright !

another half at 10
we can no longer afford to risk lulls

in the eternal search for fun

what about the things we look forward to hate :

                   the inevitable midnite fashion show on top of squeaky clean bar tables
                   no amount of make-up can wipe out the frightened smiles on the models'
                   emaciated faces !

their masks of gay abandon !

turn off the bright lights !
put on leif erikson !

' i am balan
  i have come from chennai
  to a magical place where dragons fly
  (so ive heard) '

i am so sorry to have disappointed you

                                  lets go home and stick our heads in the air-con

yr hands are cold
mine are pins & needles

time for eccy scratch

yr back or mine                                        O GREAT FUN

raumanen wasnt as good as

badai pasti berlalu, tapi kapan ?

sedan impala merah muda, memadu kasih di kapnya
vespa lambretta lambret segala

kancing copot dari dadamu, boleh kusimpan ?

malammalamjakartabanyakjinnya
gloriajeansdiblokmmalbeneranjualjinsgaya

celibacy is overrated

sex is underrated, nobody ever says that anymore
sure, sometimes id just like to have someone to hug
in the backseat of a taxi putra
on the way home, or out as luck would have it
but no luck ! the lights on those buildings are cold
theyve been cold for a while, as cold as the stars
that make up the constellations of sorrow
on my fingertips
long may they experience the electric softness
of the hair on your arm
but no such luck !
cause sex is underrated
and i never get it !

i went to plaza semanggi yesterday, walked around, gramedia, a&w, sox gallery, woku, oh la la for an overpriced aqua, that tiny magazine stand in the corner, then i started thinking, oh my god, (and i still dont believe in god, ill have you know, not for anything, i just cant be bothered devising an apologia for a half-arsed agnoticism), and i almost cant believe it, (youd better believe it, buddy !), i was actually extremely happy for long stretches of our doomed relationship.