Bilingual (Indonesia – English) Poems by Khairani Piliang – Translated by Leni Marlina: “THE TREE WITHIN THE BODY OF TIME
Indonesian Version
Puisi – Puisi Dwibahasa Karya Khairani Piliang: “Syair Pohon dalam Tubuh Waktu”
Baca juga: MANUSIAKU
/1/
Syair Pohon dalam Tubuh Waktu
Puisi: Khairani Piliang
Baca juga: Menafsir Ulang Kolaborasi dalam Pembelajaran di Era Kecerdasan Artifisial
–
//Akar
masuk ke sumur paling purba
di bawah lidah bumi
ia menyusu pada gelap
memeras getir dari batu
mengunyah dingin
berlumut di sela usia
di sana
tak ada musim dan kicau burung
hanya desir tanah mengaji sunyi
dalam bahasa paling sakral
begitupun manusia bermula
dari kedalaman serupa
jatuh ke tubuh sendiri
lalu hidup dan haus
mencari oase di tanah retak
//Batang
menjelma tiang musim
cincin-cincin tahunnya
adalah tasbih
diputar waktu perlahan
kadang petir singgah di tubuhnya
angin mengikir kulit
hingga bau hujan lindap
sebagai ingatan panjang
Ia tegak
serupa hurup tak selesai dibaca
di bawah rindangnya
pengembara berteduh
burung-burung menukar nyanyian
dari kesepian panjang
lampu redup di serambi senja
usia kian menua
semakin penuh lorong
tak sanggup digapai lidah
//Ranting
jari-jari menjulur
dari tubuh kian renta
jalan-jalan kecil
yang keluar dari dada harapan
sebagian patah
oleh angin datang terlalu dini
sebagian lagi beku
dalam musim tanpa hujan
namun pohon
tetap menumbuhkan arah
meski langit berkali-kali
menghapus jawabannya
sebab keinginan
ialah burung malam
yang selalu kembali
meski sayapnya berdarah
//Daun
bergetar di deru angin
ribuan tangan kecil sedang melambai
hiijau yang singgah sebentar
sesudah menguning
lalu luruh ke pangkuan ibu
tak pernah menolak apa pun
:gugur
suara lirih dari kehidupan
belajar melepas nama
bercahaya sebentar
lalu senyap
–
Jakarta, 25 Juni 2026
—
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Jam Makan Siang di Kota yang Sibuk
Puisi: Khairani Piliang
–
Pukul dua belas siang
jalanan penuh langkah tergesa
layar-layar ponsel menyala
orang-orang menunduk
berdoa kepada notifikasi
di lampu merah seorang anak menjajakan tisu
berteriak dengan suara serak
yang kalah bising dari klakson dan promosi diskon akhir bulan
Ia hafal cara mengetuk kaca mobil
lebih lihai ketimbang mengeja namanya sendiri
Sementara itu di lantai dua belas sebuah gedung
rapat sedang berlangsung
tentang pertumbuhan angka-angka dan grafik
yang harus naik butuh diselamatkan
agar dunia tampak baik-baik saja
Tak ada yang salah
ibu tetap menanak nasi
meski harga beras membuat matanya lebih pedas dari rawit merah
ayah tetap berangkat subuh menembus gelap demi menutupi cicilan
mahasiswa menghapus riwayat pencarian di ponsel:
“cara bertahan hidup dengan uang dua puluh ribu.”
Kita ada di zaman:
ketika belas kasih sering kalah cepat
dari koneksi internet
seseorang merekam orang jatuh lebih dulu daripada menolongnya
adalagi yang membuat konten dari air mata orang lain
lalu menyebutnya dengan kata empati
duka dipotong menjadi durasi satu menit
ditambah musik sendu, diberi tanda pagar
Malam hari, berita perang lewat di beranda
mayat-mayat muncul seperti cuaca:
sebentar dibicarakan lalu dilupakan
dan kita mengunyah keadaan seperti makan malam tak terlewatkan
di sudut kota lain
seorang kurir berhenti di bawah jembatan
membuka bekal dingin sambil memeriksa rating penilaian pelanggan
lima bintang bisa menentukan harga dirinya malam itu
ia tertawa kecil membaca komentar:
“pengiriman lambat.”
padahal hujan yang membuat jalan lebih panjang dari biasanya
Barangkali, beginilah dunia konoha
manusia berubah menjadi target jam kerja dan data statistik
suara digital bisa dibisukan kapan saja
namun selalu ada hal kecil dapat menyelamatkan bumi
Seorang perempuan berbagi payung
kepada orang asing di bawah hujan
pemuda membeli dagangan nenek tua
tanpa menawar
anak kecil mengembalikan uang terjatuh di depan warung
meski tak seorang pun melihat
Kemanusiaan tak lagi datang sebagai pengakuan
tapi dari tangan tetap terulur di zaman yang serba individualistis
tetap terjaga pada orang-orang yang masih percaya
bahwa sesama manusia masih punya hati untuk sesama
–
Jakarta, 10 Juni 2026
—
/3/
Kembali Tentang Gerimis
Puisi: Khairani Piliang
–
Gerimis turun
dzikir tak bersuara
mengukir langit pada dada retak
tiap tetes mengganti huruf yang hilang
jatuh perlahan menyapu luka
Di ambang pagi embun menggantung
menjadi doa tertahan di bibir bumi
menitik satu persatu
menyusup ke ranting-ranting kering
Gerimis
aku mengenalmu sejak tubuhku belum berpola
kau datang sebagai petuah
menetap sebagai janji
mengalir di sela-sela sunyi diri
tak pernah selesai kupahami
Kau basuh wajah letih menatap dunia
mengurai perih tersembunyi
di antara jatuh dan bangkit
aku menemukanmu
sebagai jeda yang menghidupkan
–
Bekasi, 26 April 2026
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Tentang Penyair – Khairani Piliang
Khairani Piliang penulis buku kumpulan cerpen judul Suatu Pagi di Dermaga yang rilis tahun 2017, dan kumpulan puisi judul “Seduh Sedih yang Bertasbih”, rilis tahun 2025. Berkontribusi lebih dari 50 buku antologi bersama, cerpen maupun puisi. Karyanya tersebar di berbagai media cetak dan daring nasional.
Terlibat dalam berbagai kegiatan literasi dan juri di sejumlah lomba penulisan. Pernah menorehkan prestasi sebagai pemenang lomba penulisan kreatif buku, menegaskan reputasinya sebagai penulis produktif dan berpengaruh.
Email: khairanipiliang76@gmail.com
—–
English Version
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THE TREE WITHIN THE BODY OF TIME
Poem by Khairani Piliang
Translated (Indonesia – English) by Leni Marlina
–
//Root
descending into the oldest well
beneath the earth’s tongue
it nurses on darkness
wrings bitterness from stone
chews the cold
and gathers moss between the ribs of age
there
no season stirs, no bird breaks the silence
only the whisper of soil reciting its solitude
in a language more sacred than speech
so, too, the human begins
from a depth much like this
falling inward, into the body
then living, thirsting
seeking an oasis in the cracked earth
//Trunk
becoming a pillar of seasons
its rings of years
a rosary of time
turned bead by bead
sometimes lightning lays its hand upon the bark
wind slowly files the skin away
until the scent of rain sinks into it
and becomes a memory without an ending
It stands
like a letter no one has finished reading
beneath its shade
wanderers find a place to rest
birds trade their songs
after long apprenticeships in solitude
a dim lamp on the veranda of dusk
age deepens
and the corridors within grow crowded
with things the tongue
can no longer reach
//Branch
fingers reaching outward
from an aging body
little roads
threading out from the heart of hope
some break
under winds that arrive too early
others stiffen
beneath a season that has forgotten rain
yet the tree
keeps growing toward somewhere
though the sky, again and again,
erases the answer
because desire
is a bird of the night
always finding its way home
even with blood on its wings
//Leaf
trembling in the rush of wind
a thousand little hands waving
green, here for only a moment
then turning gold
and falling into the mother’s lap
never refusing anything
:the falling
the quietest utterance of life
learning to surrender its name
burning briefly with light
then entering silence
–
Jakarta, Indonesia, June 25th, 2026
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/2/
LUNCH HOUR IN A CITY THAT NEVER PAUSES
Poem by Khairani Piliang
Translated (Indonesia – English) by Leni Marlina
–
At noon
the streets are thick with hurried footsteps
phone screens flare
heads bow
in devotion to the next notification
at the red light a child sells tissues
calling out through a hoarse throat
his voice swallowed by horns and end-of-month bargains
He has learned the art of tapping on car windows
with more certainty
than he can spell his own name
Meanwhile, on the twelfth floor of a tower
a meeting is taking place
about rising figures and obedient graphs
about numbers that must be lifted, rescued
so the world may continue
to look well
Nothing is wrong
mother still cooks the rice
though its rising price stings her eyes
sharper than red chilli
father still leaves before dawn
crossing the dark to outrun the installments
a student erases the search history from her phone:
“how to survive on twenty thousand rupiah.”
We live in an age
when mercy is often slower
than the internet
someone reaches for a camera
before reaching for the fallen
someone turns another person’s tears into content
then gives the wound the name of empathy
grief is trimmed to sixty seconds
dressed in mournful music
and crowned with a hashtag
At night, war crosses the screen
the dead arrive like weather:
spoken of for a moment, then gone
and we chew the evening’s condition
as though nothing must interrupt
the ritual of dinner
in another corner of the city
a courier stops beneath a bridge
opens a cold meal
while checking the stars beside his name
five little stars may decide
how much he is worth that night
he smiles faintly at the comment:
“delivery was slow.”
as if rain had not lengthened
every road he travelled
Perhaps this is what the world has become
human beings reduced
to shifts, targets, figures
a digital voice can be silenced
with a single touch
yet somewhere, always,
something small remains
capable of keeping the earth alive
A woman tilts her umbrella
toward a stranger in the rain
a young man buys from an old woman
without asking for a lower price
a child returns the money
someone dropped outside a little shop
though no one is there to witness it
Humanity no longer arrives
wearing the name of virtue
it comes instead
as a hand that stays extended
in an age teaching everyone to stand alone
still alive in those who believe
that one human heart
has not forgotten
how to shelter another
–
Jakarta, Indonesia, June 10th, 2026
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/3/
ABOUT THE DRIZZLE AGAIN
Poem by Khairani Piliang
Translated (Indonesia – English) by Leni Marlina
–
Drizzle falls
a dhikr without a voice
inscribing the sky upon a wounded chest
each drop restores a missing letter
descending slowly, washing over the wound
At the edge of morning, dew hangs
a prayer suspended upon the lips of earth
falling, one drop at a time
into the waiting fingers of dry branches
Drizzle
I have known you since my body was still without a shape
you came to me as a word of wisdom
remained as a promise
flowed quietly through the chambers of my solitude
and never yielded all your meaning
You rinse the tired face
that keeps looking toward the world
untying the pain hidden
between falling and rising
and I find you there
a pause in which life
finds its breath again
–
Bekasi, Indonesia, April 26th, 2026
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About the Poet – Khairani Piliang
Khairani Piliang is the author of the short-story collection Suatu Pagi di Dermaga, published in 2017, and the poetry collection Seduh Sedih yang Bertasbih, published in 2025. She has contributed to more than fifty collaborative anthologies of poetry and short fiction. Her work has appeared in various national print and online publications. She is active in literary and literacy initiatives and has served as a judge for a number of writing competitions. She has also received recognition as a winner of a creative book-writing competition, affirming her standing as a prolific and engaged literary writer. Email: khairanipiliang76@gmail.com
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About the Translator – Leni Marlina
Leni Marlina is an Indonesian poet, writer, translator, and lecturer in the English Department, Faculty of Languages and Arts, at Universitas Negeri Padang, Indonesia since 2006. Her creative and scholarly work spans poetry, fiction, essays, literary criticism, review, translation, and literacy studies.
