Chairil’s Ina Mia

A great poet was born in Medan, North Sumatra, on 26 July 1922.
His ideas were too early for his time.
He used Bahasa to ignite a revolution in the mind.
His linguistic skills created a movement for freedom.
During war and misery, his poetry opens another window to the imagination.
So eventually we can sense humanity through a different taste.
Thank you, Chairil Anwar, for your Ina Mia.

...
Terbaring di rangkuman pagi
— hari baru jadi —
Ina Mia mencari
hati impi,
Teraba Ina Mia
kulit harapan belaka
Ina Mia
menarik napas panjang
di tepi jurang
napsu
yang sudah lepas terhembus,
antara daun-daunan mengelabu
kabut cinta lama, cinta hilang
Terasa gentar sejenak
Ina Mia menekan tapak di hijau rumput,
Angin ikut
— dayang penghabisan yang mengipas —
Berpaling
kelihatan seorang serdadu mempercepat langkah di
Tengokan.
...
Lying in the lap of morning
—it’s just turned light—
Ina Mia gropes for
the heart of her dream,
Ina Mia touches
just the rind of hope,
Ina Mia
takes a long breath
along the edge of the valley
of passion
that’s been blown away.
Among the leaves gone gray us dust she feels,
trembling for a moment,
the mist of an old love, a lost love.
Ina Mia stands on the green grass.
A breeze springs up, and
—the last of the fan-waving girls—
she turns away
in time to see a soldier hurrying away, around
the corner.

1948
–Chairil Anwar
(Translation by Burton Raffel)

...
A Celebration of Chairil Anwar’s legacy in Poetry
INAMIA {X},
Tulisan Prints Edition of DASA Collection
will be released on
Saturday, 18 July 2020
At tulisan.com & Tulisan Boutiques
Darmawangsa Square & Plaza Senayan
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0815 1051 7424
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Have a lovely day,
TULISAN CHRONICLES TEAM