Panduan
jangan beritahu aku apa yang akan terjadi
dan apa yang akan kita peroleh apabila
kuda itu ada di urutan ketiga
dua yang pertama selesai
seperti prediksimu; kamu benar,
usulmu, memilih bentuk ketiga,
hanya saja meleset….
seperti biasa, sebuah cerita
tentang apa yang tak terjadi
tentang ribuan dollar tak di sini
apa yang kau lihat di sini?
Don’t tell me what would have happened
and what we could have had if only
that horse had come in third.
The first two finished well,
as you predicted; you were right,
you say, to pick the form of the third,
it only just missed…
As always, a story
of what didn’t happen,
of thousands of dollars not there.
What do you see in it?
Your fine poem is gathering the moments and turning things around. Me too, but maybe make your last line the title? But that's just me. Well known etc.
ReplyDeleteMonday At The Germbar After Work
ReplyDelete“There is no epiphany or revelation or aha moment or big click. There is no redemption. There is no great lesson learned. There is only the unknowable and the unspeakable.”
Meghan Daum (2014)
I don’t know. I was killed. I died and I came back
And what I didn’t know about it was so immense
That the huge gap reached out to become a teacher
Of dreams and invisible beauty. True I lost track a lot
So many languages were spoken. Some I understood
Some clicked me knowable, some clicked me speakable
(Afterwards of course one must rejoin and get on with it)
I never spoke any big deal about redemption. Poor manners
Anyway to come upon a big truth denied to a companion
Although of course it’s quite impossible to give as a present
I got very involved writing poetry. I bring a message back
Sit you down in a silent classroom at dusk. You’re the only one
I expected nothing but death. I had the grace of surprise.
© 2014 Rob Schackne
Is that what I saw in it? No, probably not. But when I got back from the shop I remembered that I'd forgotten something.
ReplyDeleteI hope it's not autobiographical. I was once married to a compulsive gambler – briefly, I'm glad to say. Horse racing was his thing, too. I don't know what he saw in it, but I can tell you what he got from it. Excitement akin to orgasm. I used to sit beside him in the stands watching the horses run, and saw the build-up, the increasing tension, and then at the end of the race the huge release – regardless of whether he had won or lost. That's when I realised it wasn't actually about winning (though that was the story he told himself) but about the thrill.
ReplyDeleteWhat an interesting collection of responses - things to thinks about. Thank you all so much!
ReplyDelete'think' about.
ReplyDelete