return to poetrydust
Anak Laut
(Son Of The Sea OR The
Fisherman's Lament)
The wind calls from the sea
Bringing faint memories of his wooden boat
A mere bubble of foam on the vast ocean
His sole gateway to what little wealth
is there for him to possess
and occasionally fish scales
crab fragments
severed squid
and prawn feet
offer their sympathies.
Wooden boat upturned
Embraced by the sand
Nets
Veins, broken and aged
Crinkled, creased
He is the epitome of sadness
His boat is almost there
At a more permanent gateway.
by Rahimidin Zahari, from Kulepaskan Resah Sepi
(1988), and the Anak Laut anthology
----------
(The Original Poem)
Segar angin laut
mengembalikan rindunya pada kolek
bagai buih kecil terapung di air
menjaring sedikit rezeki
dan sisik ikan
kulit ketam
kepala sotong
dan kaki udang yang bersimpati.
Seperti kolek terdampar di pasir
menampakkan urat jalur-jalur tua
anak laut itu sudah dapat menerka
langkahnya hampir tiba
pada muara Pencipta.
---
and as for the language it's soothing to the ear when executed properly, but to me most
of the poetry seems lacklustre in meaning. I find myself translating the poems in the anthology
assigned to us in Malay literature class out of boredom and lack of attention to the teacher. I don't
take the act of this too seriously, but to my knowledge the translations are accurate and I do put
them up when I'm done.
Another pretty accurate translation. The indentations and meaning in the original poem were preserved. It was slightly difficult shifting from the description of the fisherman to his fishing nets, but I think I managed.