-
Painting Your Aspirations
Since childhood, I wanted to be a painter. When I was five years old, I made this intention known to my nanny. Her response was not positive. She had a surprised look on her face, and she said, “I’m sad. All of your brothers and sisters have a really big aspiration for their future. Some…
-
The Power of Love
Loving God has always been a complicated matter. Either because humans are inherently ignorant creatures, or because we feel like we know everything. I grew up in a Muslim family, in Jakarta Indonesia. I also identify as a gay person, ever since I was eight. These contradicting elements has been part of my identity ever…
-
Belum
Ia selalu membayangkan, andai ia berdiri di luar jendela mobilnya sekarang. Silau dan panas tak terperi. Sedangkan dalam kendaraan yang ia tumpangi, sejuk selalu rasanya. Ia juga sering membayangkan, apa rasanya mengendarai kendaraaan di tengah padatnya sebuah kota yang sudah tua, tetapi memiliki seribu satu masalah seperti laiknya pemuda belia. Malu rasanya, di usianya yang…
-
Kedatangan
Hanya gelap yang terlihat ketika ia mencoba menangkap bayangan yang berjalan menjauh dari tatapan. Sosok itu pergi membawa kebenaran dan juga kesejatian. Semakin jauh langkahnya terdengar, semakin berdegup jantungnya terasa. Aku takut, katanya dalam hati. Aku ingin lari, namun ia tahu ia tidak bisa. Kemanakah, hati dan pikiran seseorang pergi ketika mereka merasa benar akan…
-
Goodbye Sadness
It was a usual afternoon. The sky was bright, and cars were roaming on the road. I was on my way to meet old friends, driving alone. My car won’t play my iPod, for it has been broken for months. So I played the usual tunes on the CD. It was an ordinary day, nothing…
-
Footless Dancer
I was discussing random things with my friends, Puti and Dimas, last Saturday. We were sitting in a very nice lounge-resto, the latest hip place in town everyone seems to visit nowadays. It is weird, that inside those flashy surroundings, between a well-designed restaurant, under that concrete mall structures, we could talk about many fascinating things; things that…
-
Randomly Rambling
I might be getting into the unusual zone with this post. I used to do some chit-chaty, rambling on something abstract and sometimes doesn’t make any sense at all. However, there are lots of things happened involving people I know recently that makes me think, especially about a concept that we used to know as…
-
Spinning
Being a five years old have always been a unique experience for everyone. When I was in this state, I have a lot of habits that made people raise their eyebrows. To be honest, I always remember how people judged me as ‘boy who has a lot of weird habits’. That includes talking to myself;…
-
A Red Umbrella
His name is Alun. Of course, It’s not his real name. Since this story based on an actual event, I’m trying to make it subtle and leave the real name behind. Alun is one of my closest relative. We were growing together in our neighborhood, he’s a 19 years old boy now. He and I…
-
Huzun
I can feel sorrow in the air. Can you feel it? It was a gloomy feeling, surrounding you and your environment. I tried to called it a ‘melancholy feeling’, for the words might be easier to us to comprehend. Although, it might be more than that. You’re not melancholic all the time. It was a…