"Rekah" by Dwianto

Rekah

By Dwianto

Wrapped tightly in shackles.

Crawling on the ground, full of limitations.

The world feels dark, colorless.

The soul is confined, full of doubts.

Yet within, lies potential.

A hidden power, waiting to be unleashed.

Like a flower bud, ready to blossom.

The butterfly awaits, the time to change.

The process of transformation, full of struggle.

Breaking free from the shackles.

Breaking through obstacles, full of pain.

Towards the light, reaching for hidden dreams.

Until the time comes, beautiful wings unfold.

Learn from the butterfly.

that we are capable of transformation.

Discard doubts, face fears.

Step forward, achieve your dreams.

Like a caterpillar that transforms into a butterfly.

Let go of the shackles of the past, welcome the future.

Fly high, reach your dreams with confidence.

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My Indonesian friend sent me this poetry this week. Yes, I understand his feelings that he discribed in this sentences. Everybody is struggling with something when they are younger like this way. However everybody has possibility to be a butterfly like this in the future. So you should not give up becoming your own butterfly. Because life can be beautiful for everyone.

"HOME" by Dwianto from Indonesia

I went home with tears they firmly wiped my cheeks

I came home with a long face they rained down smiles

I came home with mud as big as my body their love became a spring of water 

I came home with an explosion of disappointment they poured an ocean of hope

I slammed the door loudly as I left full of anger

I crossed the white walls they had because of my mischief

I ruined the living room

I throw pillows and bolsters in the bedroom

My home remains a home

The door stays wide open no matter how hard I slam it.

The walls are always clean no matter how many times I scribble on them.

The living room is always tidy no matter how often I ravage it

My room is always tidy whenever I come back

I always thought my house was a miracle

I thought my house was sophisticated with the help of technology

I thought my house was a stupid building that couldn't fight back

I thought my house was just a place to go home after I partied with the outside world

I was wrong, I fell into error

My house is just a house, really a pile of bricks and cement

The real home is the life inside

Father and mother turned out to be the real home in the house I thought

Dad is a strong pillar that supports my good and bad behavior.

Mom is the pottery that embraces me in the cold of the night.

The love of my father and mother turned out to be a roof that kept me from the heat and rain.

The spring that radiates is in fact the sweat of my mother and father.

A home is just a home without a father and mother, a father and mother is a home

Father and mother are heaven that God dropped on earth.

Father and mother are the home we return to no matter what we experience.

Father and mother are the true home we return to.

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This is a poetry which my friend made, and he lives in Indonesia. Poetry ties between hearts of people living in different countries. Yes, "house" doesn't mean just a building. Even if you are living in a big city or a tiny village, you can understand what this poet means. I can say that "house" means namely a family. Or I may be able to say that "house" means "wife," " husband," "siblings," "parent," or "lover." Maybe, you may say that house means homeland. Anyway, house means something that this young poet wrote here. For everone.

人間失格 : Mine has been a life on much shame.

I loved this novel around the age of 20. This is the most famous and the top seller book since the past in Japan. Although, to tell the truth I don’t know the reason why this novel is sold so much. Because this novel’s story is filled with a dark mood. The significant sentence in this novel is this.

“恥の多い生涯を送ってきました”

“Mine has been a life on much shame”

This translation was from a very famous researcher about Japanese literature. I would like to tell you the meanings of these words.

恥 haji : shame

生涯 syogai : life

You may not be able to imagine what “a life on much shame” is. This sentence is a confession from the main character. However, we know that this confession came from this author’s life. His name is Osamu Dazai.

He had tried to suicide sometimes in his life, and some of them were lovers’ suicide. And eventually he died at the age of 38, with his lover. That affair occurred in Tokyo and also it has been reported in newspapers.

I’m not sure why this novel has been sold so much, however I can say that many Japanese intellectuals have sympathy with this author’s confession. And also it can be said that this confession is an expression from humans’ anxiety itself. In a modern society, everybody feels anxiety, I think. He wrote, “Mine has been a life on much shame.” Yeah, namely, we always fear being embarrassed within a society, the same as this author. 

In this novel, the main character also hates hypocrisy about his life itself. He wanted to live pure in his mind. But it has been difficult. I think many Japanese see the same thing in his mind as their own. 

This novel isn’t a fact, but it reflects the author's life. So, we read this novel as the author’s confession.