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Subject: Of pebbles and ice cream: Voice of
a Timorese poet
The Jakarta Post
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Feature
Of pebbles and ice cream: Voice of a Timorese poet
Ati Nurbaiti, The Jakarta Post, Ubud
We all scattered / we all ran in every direction. These two lines are
scrawled in the notebook of the man with the guitar, one of two books in his
bag that is filled with phrases, mostly in Tetum, but also in Indonesian.
Bernab? (Ab?) Barreto Soares does not know and does not care what will
happen to those lines, whether they will remain as they are, all jumbled up
with other notes to himself, or whether they will one day become verse.
He only knows that something came to the surface, his memory of being
scattered and running together with residents of the town of Dili who were
caught in a conflict that is hard to understand, not long after they gained
their hard-fought independence.
More than once, he said during the annual writers' festival here, he was
surrounded by people who were set on attacking him -- once because he was
trying to stop them raze the family home.
"Suddenly I had the confidence to calm them down and address them," he said,
recalling the moment when he told them that if they killed him, they would
be killing themselves -- "for you are my brother, as we are of this same
sacred soil".
This experience of the power of words reinforced his view, he said, that
giving people dignity overcomes "the deprivation of having no
acknowledgement, no recognition". He quotes Mother Theresa, saying that this
is the worst form of poverty.
Soares, a former information officer and now translator at the United
Nations office in Timor Leste, was enjoying a vacation in Ubud, Bali,
listening to fellow poets and writers, and attending the launch of the
anthology, Terra, which includes his poem.
Ayu Utami, Dorothea Rosa Herliany of Indonesia, and Miles Merrill of
Australia, were among those at the launch and whose works are also in the
collection.
Soares accompanied Dorothea on his guitar as she read her poem. He said he
felt an immediate bond with his new friends at the festival, Wiratmadinata
and Debra Yatim -- both of whom have written poems about Aceh, particularly
following the 2004 tsunami and earthquake.
Whenever an Indonesian writer presented their work, Soares -- formerly a
long-haired young man living in self-imposed exile in Canada -- expressed
his support.
"I was raised on Indonesian literature," he said, citing Sapardi Djoko
Damono and Ayip Rosidi as being among his favorite writers.
Tetum, which is widely spoken in Timor Leste, dominates his writing; "listen
to its beautiful sound," he told the audience at the Dragonfly cafe here
when reading out his poem -- I am a pebble that you throw in the pond. But
he also savors Indonesian phrases, those with a rhythm lost in translation:
pontang panting, scattered, malam berbulan-bintang, a night of moon (and)
stars.
Soares spells out his big dream; of the contribution of the literati to
Timor's character building -- again citing words of wisdom from Indonesian
figures first president Sukarno and educator Ki Hadjar Dewantara.
A "cautious optimist" when it comes to his often turbulent, fragile nation,
he is encouraged by the feedback to his monthly radio program, which
features poetry readings and introductions to writers from around the world,
interspersed with appropriate music.
Without cultural education, he says, people will end up as couch potatoes
hooked on bad TV, university graduates sans sensitivity, people unable to
agree to disagree -- not to mention the young men spreading fear, throwing
stones and worse now and then, leading to the persistent, yearlong multitude
of refugees in the dusty town of Dili.
Apart from his radio program, Soares said he had managed to visit a number
of refugee camps across town, entertaining residents at night after work
along with a few other artists. "We stopped because of the security
condition," he said.
Across the small country, there is actually no shortage of talent, he said.
Traveling around Timor Leste, he added, would help reveal talent across the
regions. And building the culture, he added, would require working with
Indonesians, which would help forge friendships between the two peoples.
"Let politics be ... we can light candles."
Exposure to literature, he said, helped people go beyond perceptions of
black and white. Timor's history, and the former president they once shared
with Indonesia, Soeharto, is not black and white, Soares said.
Understanding history is a must, he said, citing Sukarno.
It is far from clear how the cultured like Soares will perceive the upcoming
report touching on the violent history of 1999, which is expected to be
released in January by the Commission for Truth and Friendship set up by
Indonesia and Timor Leste. While history is never black and white, critics
are warning that the official version of what sent people "scattering,
running in every direction" will be too vague, to say the least.
But the poet just smiles, pointing to the candles lighting up the
restaurant.
Somehow he figures he will start to build his dream of contributing to
Timor's culture and education, continuing where the political crisis in his
country stopped him and his band of friends from going around the refugee
camps, and airing the radio programs more often.
"Just like in my poem," the new father of a baby boy says, he wants to be
like "a pebble dropped to the bottom of a pond", creating, hopefully many,
many ripples.
He orders desert -- "I'll have my favorite" -- and gives the waitress a big
smile. Soon the poet is digging into his ice cream, a perfect mix with a
perfect rhythm.
It's right there in his notebook of treasured thoughts and words:
"Strawberry, chocolate and vanilla."
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Joyo Indonesia News Service
==== ========= ==== =======
In memory of JoyoNews founder, leader, and inspiration
Bapak Gordon Bishop
8 October 1946 - 21 July 2007
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