Valley Poem

by Eliana Rose Swerdlow

yalelitmag.com Spring 2019

 

I’m balancing on a mud-made beam

between the rice terraces of this valley

          Aku imbang diri di atas batas selut
         di antara petak-petak sawah di lembah ini

 

when I crouch down, holding the toes

of my rainboots, to see everything

          sewaktu aku bongkok, kupegang hujung jari-jari

          but hujanku, agar dapat aku lihat segala benda

on the water’s surface. I turn my head

to squint up at you through my wispy hairs,

          di atas permukaan air. Aku kalih kepalaku 

         untuk mengintai wajah kamu di celah-celah jurai rambutku,

and you laugh because I’ve never been this young

before. You crouch down too. We’re two birds

          dan kamu ketawa kerana aku tak pernah berkelakuan orang muda
          sebegini dulu. Kamu turut membongkok. Kita sepasang burung
 
on a telephone wire, watching every speck

almost move in the murky water.

          bertenggek di dawai telefon, memerhati setiap mangsa dari jauh
          menguit di dalam air keruh.

Before it gets dark, we stand up to see

the mountains comb the sun,

          Sebelum hari gelap, kita berdiri melihat

         gunung-ganang membelai matahari,
 
making its light explode down and over

us. We leave the farm with two peaches,

          membuatkan cahayanya memancar ke bawah dan menimpa

          kita. Kita tinggalkan sawah ini dengan membawa dua pic,
 
a gift from the farmer. We are almost home,

holding the now dry peach pits, in love

          hadiah daripada sang petani. Kita hampir tiba ke sarang,
         memegang pic-pic yang hanya tinggal biji kering, penuh rasa sayang
 
with their hollow bodies, when I realize

you are not real but someone I’ve invented

          terhadap tubuh-tubuhnya yang berongga, sehinggalah aku tersedar
         kamu bukan manusia sebenar tapi seseorang yang aku khayalkan
 
in this valley as I listened to the river

move outside my window each night.

         di lembah ini sewaktu aku mendengar air sungai

         mengalir di luar tingkap rumahku setiap malam.

nota: Gambar yang disertakan di sini bukan di Malaysia atau mana-mana negara sekitar negara kita, tetapi gambar seorang lelaki kulit putih di petak sawahnya di Florida, Amerika Syarikat. Kebanyakan penanam padi di negeri-negeri di sebelah utara negara Pak Cik Sam ini menanam padi huma, manakala kaedah petak berair diguna pakai di selatan. Difahamkan, Amerika Syarikat adalah pengeksport utama beras berkualiti tinggi untuk buat sushi ke Jepun.

000

Di bawah ini pula - beberapa sajak jelas mesej politiknya - yang boleh diambil sebahagian daripada isinya sebagai iktibar. Namun begitu, Islam adalah Islam. Oleh itu, sebarang ideologi yang dipegang oleh penyajak-penyajak terbabit tidak saya sarankan untuk anda anuti. Saya akan terjemah sajak-sajak yang saya rasa sedap nanti, insya-Allah.

In early 1930s Russia
the Kulaks were the enemy of the state
their crimes?
having an extra cow
owning any kind of machine with a motor that helped them work faster
hiring someone to work on the farm
trying to sell any extra grain that they harvested
or not showing enough signs of starvation
because that meant they were hiding food

and what would happen to one of these privileged peasants
if they were caught?
well, their homes would be pillaged
not that it mattered
because they would never live there again
among the more fortunate rewards for this insubordination
was to board a one-way cruise to a labor camp in Siberia
and if those travel plans didn’t work out
the consolation prize was a beating, a rape
and a shovel
to dig their own grave

the mainstream news continuously abused the Kulaks
accusing them of all of the country’s economic blues
if you listen close
you can still hear the echoes

the crimes of the modern-day Kulak?
having an extra computer
owning any kind of machine with a motor that helps you get to work faster
hiring someone to work at your company
trying to sell any extra goods that you produce
or not showing enough signs of dependence
because that means you’re hiding self-sufficiency

when they come
they’ll tell you they’re trying to solve a wealth deficiency
that they’re freeing people from poverty
but they’ve only ever freed people from property
it is not free stuff
it’s no stuff
because anything that you might think is yours
is only yours until someone that ranks above you shows up at your door
and implores you that it’s not
it doesn’t stop with the rich
or the middle class
or the poor
it doesn’t stop with your property
or your children
or your thoughts you see
no amount of socialist distancing can hide you from this kind of virus
the welfare of humanity is always the alibi of tyrants

when they come
they’ll offer you a green new deal
but the old red deal had guaranteed government jobs too
they were called Gulags
you do not want to start the utopia machine

no regime with collectivist intentions has ever been given an inch and not taken a mile
because at the heart of every socialist scheme
is a communist manifesto

the problem is not the execution
it’s the disillusionment
of any system that
disincentivizes work
cancels charity
annihilates ambition
overthrows ownership
and completely misdiagnoses the human condition
it could never work
it cuts to the very soul of the human plight
because freedom is the first fundamental human right

it’s why no one was ever shot trying to get IN to East Germany or North Korea

but what say ye to the struggle?
what about inequality?
there’s a big difference between humanitarian work
and forced work for the good of humanity
one produces good humans
the other reduces humans to goods
we are absolutely answerable to the call of compassion
but forced compassion is not compassion
it’s just stealing
and listen, we can agree
that capitalism and communism both have extreme greed
but only one has extreme generosity
the other has firing squads

and lest you think you’re not one of the Bourgeoisie
and the hairs on the back of your head will never be the cross kind
bear in mind that every purge of the Bourgeois in history
has also included loyal comrades suspected of individual thought
and ethnic minorities and many of the proletariat
just because they had some extra bullets

history is littered with those who wished for liberty
and those who took it

when they come
they’ll say trust us – this time it’ll be different
but a ruse by any other name
would smell just the same

in a free society we will have to fight inequality
in a society where everyone is forced to be equal
we will have to fight
to be free
which will it be?

I’m a single issue voter.

That issue isn’t the economy, healthcare, climate change, immigration, education, or gun control. It’s not even abortion.

I’m a registered non-partisan. I never liked the idea of identifying as a member of either party because I’m generally averse to any sort of group identity.

But I do have values. I value individual worth, the equal and full protection of inalienable rights, natural law, free speech, and freedom of worship.

I believe we need voices on both what we call the “left” and the “right”. We’ve got problems. We need creative problem solving, and we need people to fully analyze any proposed solutions before making widespread policy changes that could have unexpected but devastating effects.

We need compassion. We need conversation.
We need progress. We need preservation.

All of these are important.

Now, the far left and the far right – I view these with equal abhorrence. Both are morally bankrupt and supremely dangerous. They claim to be opposites, but the bloodstains they’ve left on human history are indistinguishable.
The corruption, the destruction, the death…
the real question is, which of these two is more of a threat to present day America?

Well, the far right is small in number, power, and influence. White supremacy is not taught in schools or propped up on cable news or pontificated on in our prevailing publications. The far left on the other hand has almost ubiquitous power and is increasing its numbers and influence by the day. By the hour.
on the front lines of the (culture) war
look at the weapons being wielded in all of our universities, our high schools, even our elementary schools, even more
look at how the big tech companies have formed battalions
with the mainstream media
you’ve seen the double standards
the silencing, the shadowbanning
the Orwelian finaggling of language
the skewing of search results
the censorship
the false narratives
the mass manipulation of reality
you’ve seen the madness of the mobs
the captains of corporations with their smoke grenades
flanked by Hollywood and SJWs and their woke brigades

now take all of this power
and add to it control of the White House
the legislature, and the Supreme Court after they pack it
according to the plan
after the last bastions of conservatism and liberalism are slaughtered
what’s left?
what’s right?

“But Joe Biden is not far left” you might say. That may be true in the same way a cocoon is not a moth. We all know what’s waiting to emerge. Even if he weren’t near the end of his career we all understand, he would of course capitulate to every one of their demands.

That brings us to the incumbent.
Do I think that Trump could speak more presidentially and use more unifying rhetoric? Yes. Do I think any of the people that have spent the past 4 years screaming about him would change their mind if he did so? No.

Do I think he’s narcissistic and gets the ultimate ego boost from being President? Yes. Do I think he wants to be a dictator and make everyone handmaids and slaves? No.

Do I see both sides making the argument that the other side wants to take away their rights? Yes. Do I see the powers that be in the mainstream press and big social media companies treating these arguments with equal discretion? No.

So, despite his moral missteps, misguided tweets, and off-putting mannerisms
the fact of the matter is
that Trump is the only one defending all of us in the exhausted middle
the only one defending America as we know it
maybe the vitriol that he elicits from all those that wish to control us should tell us something

it’s a dark place we’ve all been in
like you
I’m just trying to find the light in it
in this life
I just want the opportunity to thrive
I just want liberty
I just want the enlightenment to survive

the single issue that I’m voting on is freedom
because without it, none of the others matter
and when this is over
I just hope it still stands
I know, we may disagree
I just want to live in a country where we still can