What is the Worth of my Poetry?

What is the Worth of my Poetry?

What is the worth of my poetry
If my younger sibling did not leave for school
because the school fees could not be paid?
What is the worth of my poetry
If my father’s pedicab suddenly breaks down
If rice had to be bought with money
If we have to eat
And when there is nothing to eat?
What is the worth of my poetry
If father quarrels with mother
Mother blames father
Even as pedicabs are pushed off the streets by city buses
Who is to blame that it is now cheaper
To ride a bus than a pedicab?
What is the worth of my poetry
If mother is being strangled by debt
If the neighbors are being strangled by debt?
What is the worth of my poetry
If we are forced to build our house
Along a canal
While the cost of land keeps going up
We cannot afford to buy
Whose fault is it that we cannot afford to buy land?
What is the worth of my poetry
If a sick person dies at home
Because hospitals are expensive?
What is the worth of my poetry
Which takes up months of my time
What can it contribute to alleviate the poverty
That is strangling us?

What have I given
When the audience at the poetry reading have applauded
What have I given
What have I given?

(Translation of Apa yang Berharga dari Puisiku)

English Translations from Bahasa Indonesia by
Eden LAYDA
Asian Center
University of the Philippines
Diliman, Quezon City

Source:

ASIAN STUDIES
Journal of Critical Perspectives on Asia
Volume 49, Number 2, 2013 50th Anniversary Issue
Url: http://asj.upd.edu.ph/mediabox/archive/ASJ-49-2-2013/ASJ%20Vol%2049%20No%202%20-%202013%20FINAL%2015.pdf