WRITE AND READ POEM

Not so many distinguished Poem writers so far in every country, but once He/She acknowledged as a poetry writer He/She become got a special attention among the community where He/She belong.

I liked read the poem around 5 - 6 years ago through a pocket poem's books displayed in the bookshelve in the bookstore. I had tended to selected the poems closed to wedding anniversaries when some of my community celebretated their wedding in a selected audiences.I had encouraged 3 (tree) women to performed a poem in front of their husbands to expressed their loved witnessed by a small group of 25 - 30 attendands

I remembered, one of my fellow elders, Aniek Iswanto announced :"Lets hear W.S.Rendra of our 2nd region", she said.  She called me WS.Rendra, a popular, top poem writer in the country. Off course, I had nothing compared to this welknown man. I had just interested in reading and approached someone to read, not me.

Initially, coming home from fishing above a pier at Balboa beach in Southern California in early 2008, I wrote my first poem :"Memancing rindu", means longing while fishing. Longing and missed my families I leaved  it behind in Indonesia for a long period of time, 6 months, lived with my 2nd son who lived in USA since 1990.

Backed home to Indonesia and took a chance to performed, read my own poem in front of a relatively big attendands. The first attempted was full house of around 600 - 700 people, when our priest entering a new home, next behind a big Church at Kwitang, central  Jakarta. The poem titile is "Langkah langkah panjang", means a long steps to be taken by priests, since the field were so wide while the workers so limited.

Then the next big audiences was in Desember 22, 2008 a Christmas Celebration at Cendrawasih church post in Tanah Abang, central Jakarta. The theme related to Enviroment and Forest of Papua's island, as my picture above, where illegal logging recently happened in those remote and big island, far away from Jakaarta.

The news then spread, whispered from moth to mouth to a bigger communities, until then a Christmascommittee, Mrs.Anny Gosana asked me to read a very long poems written by WS.Rendra, as mentioned above. The event was in a Christmas eve service, december 24, 2009 at GKI Kwitang church, central Jakarta, attended by over 900 church goers: in the 2nd service at 9 am. Really it was a very high qualiity of poem written by top writer in a crowd attendands. Even I tried my best to performed well, I couldn't deny that I felt trembling a bit. Below my performance

Some of my frieds asking to write them a poem for their friend's birthday, big gathering friends, or seniors celebration. Occasionally they just send it in short messages if they can't joint he event.

Sometime  I wrote in a rushed for a very short noticed and told them that I was not in a happy mood in writing in such circumtance Unpectedly, they love it with comment : "It  was good and would be better off if you were in a good mood", they said with many thanks.

Then my friend Mr.Handoko Naftaly invited me to a Monday weekly  prayers gathering at a cozy Chinese restaurant, Golden Leaf, Kelapa Gading, North Jakarta. And just in the second visit I performed my poem, a title correlated to the the same theme of the verses to be preach that same night :"Menabur benih kash", means to sown love seeds. See my picture below :

In a special occasion, a fiend, a widower who like the poem as well got the second married to his office mate to become his soul mate. A single women, I known for so long and I knew what their background were, when I had drafted two poems. The last poem better than the first one called "Benih Keabadian", means Seeds of longlives. I read it after a formal service, so I may performed in my own tecnique not jeoperdized the sacred wedding service. Below my picture :

 

In other  opportunities, my poems read by someone else, the one is Mr Frits who heard my poem in his wedding last July 10, 2010. He was able to expressed my feeling when I finishied my service period at Tegal Alur post, a small church next to Cengkareng airport, West Jakarta. I say good bye through a poem. He performed by using caffiah, just like Yasser Arafat, as photo below :

 

Beside, when a head of Christmas committee asking me to present something in a Big gathering of all conggregation all over 8 Posts around Jakarta, Bogor, Bekasi, Tangerang as representative of tTegal alur post church, we assigned Diana, a Sunday school pupils to read my poem at BPPJ building down town Jakarta. It was amazing, a suburb young girl, never before performed in a big crowds in a huge building. She memorized the poem called Meyembah Raja, bow the King as foto below :

 

Unfortunately, two of my friend who eaager to read mine had no photos taken while reading, but I will find their fotos from other sources. One is Mr.Jajang Gandakusumah, my old friend and Mrs.Ruthina De Hann, one of the elder in my church.

Almost over 18 months I had created more than 100 poems, some, small parts  were titles in English, categorized in 4 groups, loving family, loving nation, love to serve and love others. My friends suggested to gather the poem together and print it in a Poem collection book. I had collected most of them and will print it asap in tiny book title "Kekasihku di Bukit Sentul" as cover below :

 

Recently, in any gathering or if I met a friend, they never forget to mention my poem and my  abstract way of thinking or at least later on, every body in my community would remember me as a Poem lover or something related to the Poem, it is my new identity to remembered and loved it so much.