"Di Sebuah Ruang Tunggu" (or "In A Waiting Room")

In an Indonesian course I'm taking this year, we read this poem by Putu Vivi Lestari on the Bali bombings. I found it very moving and so I'm going to try my hand at translation (with help, of course, from going through it once in class with the professor.)

Di Sebuah Ruang Tunggu (In A Waiting Room)

Seandainya
dengan sekuntum mawar
dapat kutemu
jiwamu
yang hilang
mungkin mimpi
akan cukup

If
with a single rose stem
I could find
your lost spirit
maybe dreams
would be enough

Di sebuah ruang tunggu
dengan ratusan kantung
dan ampul
tertebar
berkali kueja namamu
barangkali terselip
di antara balok-balok es
atau tertindih lalu lalang
orang-orang yang sibuk
memungut kenangan
tercecer
bersama rintih pilu
kunang-kunang

In a waiting room
with hundreds of IV bags
and vials
strewn about
many times I spell out your name
which may slipped slipped
between the blocks of ice
or been pinned down in the foot traffic
of people busy
picking up spilled memories
with the piercing whimper
of fireflies

Berkali kueja namamu
meski serpihan es
mencair
mengaliri
tubuh
melepuh
luluh di bakar
mimpi
yang selesai
di ujung matahari
tetap saja cuma tinggal
ingatan buram

Many times I spell out your name
although shards of ice
melt
flow around
bodies
blistered
destroyed in the fire of
dreams
which have ended
at the farthest point of the sun
still there are left only
hazy memories

Dengan apa mesti kutawar?
udara memberat
dengan wangi
daging terurai
bercampur harum dupa

What can I use to counter this all?
the air weighs heavy
with the fragrance of
flesh dishevelled
mixing with the smell of incense

Seandainya
dengan sekuntum mawar
dapat kulukis
kembali
jejakmu di debu
yang tersapu
angin
tentu tak perlu kubukua
catatan
nama-nama dewa
tuhan
yang beranjak pergi

If
with a single rose stem
I could paint back
your steps in the dust
swept
by the wind
then I wouldn't have to consult
the records
names of gods
god
getting up to leave

Sementara Van Gogh
yang jauh
belum juga usai
melukis air mata
bersama pemakan kentang
di tahun yang gelap
dan muram

Meanwhile Van Gogh
far away
also has not finished
painting tears
with the potato eaters
in that dark
and sombre year

Di luar
nampak matahari
remang senja
yang itu juga
aku tiba-tiba teringat
orang-orang timur
dengan batu jadenya
:simbol keberuntungan
(yang kini melingkar
di jari manisku)

Outside
the sun rises
an overcast twilight
is that as well
I suddenly recall
the people of the East
with their jade stones
: symbols of good fortune
(like this one encircling
my ring finger)

berkali kuraba
berharap sebuah isyarat
tapi isyarat
cuma minggigil
di pojok ruang tunggu
sambil bertanya
"Apa warna langit
hari ini?"

Many times do I rub it
hoping for a sign
but a sign
only shivers
in the corner of the waiting room
asking
"What colour is the sky
today?"

Oktober 2002