ANKLE-DEEP ROMANCE

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here comes the low tide
you’re nowhere in sight
— your kisses and your sighs
agony in your green eyes

i’d rather be happy than have poetry
to never be hurt, to never blame you
to steal your breath for an eternity
to hell with dreams that do not come true

i’m not prepared for your freedom
you’re not equipped with my ransom
the water keeps leaving the pier
still i’m drowning in my old fear

big hands on my waist were never enough
what is this illness i keep calling love
to paris’ rain my heart will return
where your shadows can’t leave me alone

d.o.
london, 20 may 2026

BEFORE THE RIVER

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have i ever stood still before you
to look at your waves subtle and crude
and to see the sky above you
as merely the sky and not solitude

or do i glance at your surface
and, being inexperienced in feeling loved
dive straight into the cold behind this face
avoiding the reflection of the sane world

do i chuckle and frown and smile
with the excitement of the wind and pain so pure
have i ever stood still before you
before passing your depth and trueness by

d.o.
paris, 16 may 2026

PHANTASM

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i see two moons on the windows, outside
a reflection of a reflection of light
in the face of you, my darling, i see my heart
a reflection of a reflection of fights

wishing for a banging door – not by my hand
for love to enter, finally, my kingdom of hell
longing to surrender, to trust, comprehend
to testify in favour of everyone who fell

my pains are heavy and you are free
a tie is only a burden when you wear it on your shoulders
fly away when my kisses have lost their novelty
and let me wander alone like a starling suffers

d.o.
london, 2 may 2026

I IN YOU

–ysh

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i find you
when i search for i
in the still night
content without stars
in my backbone
alone

it’s not your eyes i long for
your touch does not at all pour
mirrors break and hearts change
no wind can stop oneself from
becoming

what is time
who suffers space
love is prime
when self is traced

finding you
i figure i out
letting you in
the i come out


d.o.
london, 30 april 2026

LOW TIDE INSTINCT

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dusk has turned into dawn
i can’t stand the distance
between how much of you i want
and my wish for your freedom

i wish for you to turn up out of the water
for i know not how to love moderately
i am trapped in this unnecessary melancholy
full of wound and scabs that do not falter

to want to be loved at all cost
to keep the tones hearable
and your absence more bearable
to taste longing without the loss

when distance takes over, drag me across the floor
install me close to your chest and your fortress
kiss me endlessly when silence tortures
i want your resistance no more

d.o.
london, 14 april 2026

SOBBING MERRIMENT

–jh

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where does tonight carry the seine
when the rain’s left, and sorrow’s no longer right
two pairs of shoes, one of them wet from the ground
taking their time finding the bridge

one by one lovers turned into loners
returned to where they belong –
in the prayers of hungry artists
far from the ghosts of my gentleness
stuttered in declaring their objections

where does the seine carry tonight
before the tower’s lights turned out
and all faith quietly drowned
like dust penetrating the surface
not lost, yet may no longer be found

there is no line i could denounce
about the god that’s closer than my neck vein
when my silence steamed up your glasses
— taking them off i hide from the sobbing merriment

london-sherborne, october 2024

KEGEMBIRAAN SESENGGUKAN

–jh

(click here for the english version)

ke mana malam ini membawa sungai seine
setelah hujan pergi, dan kesedihan tak benar lagi
dua pasang sepatu, yang satu basah karena hujan
mengambil waktu mencari jembatan

satu per satu, kekasih menjelma orang kesepian
kembali ke tempat mereka berada –
dalam doa seniman lapar
jauh dari hantu kelembutanku
gagu dalam menyatakan keberatan

ke mana sungai seine membawa malam ini
sebelum lampu menara dimatikan
dan semua kepercayaan diam-diam tenggelam
seperti debu yang menembus permukaan
tak hilang, namun tak lagi tertemukan

tak ada kalimat yang bisa kubatalkan
tentang tuhan yang lebih dekat dari urat leherku
ketika diamku menguap di kacamatamu
– menanggalkannya, kusembunyi dari kegembiraan sesenggukan

london – sherborne, oktober 2024

PLATH: THIS IS NOT I 

SONY DSCSeven years ago, I was invited to perform my poetry in Jakarta on one of the two nights of a literary event.

I just finished, at that time, a poetry performance project with some young musician and artist friends and had successfully performed in two cities. However, the committee of the event in Jakarta wanted me to perform alone, just me and my poetry, or in the man-in-charge’s own words: “could you just come without your boyfriend?” He sounded bitter, and he was wrong – my then boyfriend had nothing to do with art except that of making me cry. Love, love, love… Continue reading

ROADKILL

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a golden light through the farmer’s window
a song from the war as i pass under the abandoned railway bridge
a field of rape rising up from behind the young hedges
none of it touches me

i am breathing scars in my brain
my heart is useless
it is so worn out i can’t walk in it!

papa would you love me if i befriended your god;
and mama would you ask how i am if you were not dying?

there is no road kill from somerset to dorset tonight
but they’re all dead in tanjungkarang

the wind is waiting, i suppose
nothing am i fearing

dorset, 2013

THE FINAL WIND

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nobody knows how much i loved him
since the night i opened every door to my dreams

there was a space bigger than the sky in my heart
for him, forever became him, forever was him

i ran to catch him, i smelt his skin
knowing not when to stop or how

i took off all my clothes, i was naked before him
knowing not when he’d understand or give up

i made love to him, from skin to blood
i let him kiss my scars, he made me leave god

i was overjoyed with all the flowers and the strife
i used to smile and laugh until i cried

then i sat there in the garden, in the rain, raining
the wind changed for me, so i changed for it

he was blown away from my nerves
he was gone before we said good bye

the sand in the beach i want to forget
the letters at the door i have swept

nobody knows how much i loved him
nobody knows how i stopped – i can’t explain

yogyakarta, 2011