Kunang-kunang kerlip terang
Turun ke bumi berbintang bintang
Mengurai simpul simpul langkah
Penuh hujat, caci maki dan fitnah.
Hikayatku hikayat bumiku
Hutan menjadi saksi
Rumah dibakar hangus
Suara bisik bisik diberangus
Berbagai senjata
Berlabuh di selangkangan
Penghancur nilai perempuan
Merobohkan sendi jiwa
Malam kelam
Bulan dibalik awan
Remang remang menabur ketakutan
Bau mesiu amis darah
Jerit tangis ditelan resah
Siksa jiwa raga, luka dan duka
Disimpan rapi di lubuk hati
Penguat tingkah setiap hari
Penuntun hidup meniti matahari
Pirilampu, oh pirilampu
Aku insan kehendak sejarah
Memikul beban masa lampau
Aroma mesiu aroma darah
Pirilampu, oh pirilampu
Bebanku bebanmu
Kunyanyikan di hadapanmu
Agar tak terulang menimpamu.*
Jakarta,19 September 2024
Ballad of a firefly
Translation by Kiernan Box and Vannessa Hearman
Fireflies flickering brightly
fall to the earth as stars
untangling knots
full of mockery, obscenity and slander
My saga is the saga of my land
jungle be my witness
house burned to a cinder
whispers silenced
A raft of weapons
take anchor at the groin
trash a woman’s worth
tear the soul from its hinges
Dark night, moon behind a cloud
the dimming light sows fear
gunpowder smell bloody stench
screams, cries stifled by angst
Body and soul tortured, wounds and sorrow
tucked neatly deep down
to deal with every day
following the sun for guidance
Pirilampu, oh pirilampu (firefly, oh firefly)
I am destined by history
to shoulder the burden of the past
stench of gunpowder, of blood
Pirilampu, oh pirilampu (firefly, oh firefly)
my burden is your burden
I sing in your presence
to prevent this from happening to you.
*Pirilampu is the Tetum word for ‘firefly’ and the name of a Timorese network for women survivors of conflict-related sexual violence, established in 2022.
Putu Oka Sukanta is a Jakarta-based writer, health worker, and human rights activist who was imprisoned by the Suharto New Order regime for 10 years. He was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Ubud Writers and Readers Festival in 2022.
