Bedtime Story
“The lizards, my love, are talking about us.
Nonsense, in other words.”
So said the king to his queen that night.
The passion of bed sated,
silence slipped between bones and sheets.
“Why not believe me? Your dreams shall convince you
as surely as the morning sun.”
The woman broke into tears when Anglingdarma drew up
the seets to cover again her naked breasts; his breath cold
while he kissed her hair.
At morning’s light she tjrew herself upon the burning pyre.
And His Majesty did discern a way to force him to
take flight –with the help of gods
no one knew from whence they came– a way to be untrue.
“Batik Madrim, Batik Madrim, why, then, O Vizier?
Why should one hold constancy more dear than
life and so on and so forth?”
1971
Translator: Nancy Florida
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Taken from Selected Poems, Puisi Pilihan: Revised and Expanded [Kata Kita: 2004]