I remember this scent, of freshly-trimmed grass,

as if it had been only yesterday.

This same path, this same scenery,

of a trip I used to walk on daily.

It struck me a bit when, I realize

that my last rainy season here

was a distant four years away.

 

(19 November 2008.

Di belakang Perpustakaan Pusat ITB,

dalam perjalanan ke Labtek VIII.)

Hours and hours spent….

Yet you still can’t get the solution.

You have run out of time….

Yet still no solution.

While hours has turned into a day,

and more hours would mean more days.

You really should have been doing something else….

“After this I would shut the laptop,” you promise yourself

But many hours spent, the laptop’s still on,

The book left abandoned.

You’re going to have a test, for God’s sake!

Stop playing around!

“But, I’m just trying to get this programming thing done, see.”

Excuses and more excuses, you give yourself.

So many hours passed, before you finally get the answer.

Is this it? So simple! Why hadn’t I seen it before?

And you wonder, if the hours spent were actually hours wasted.

Well, obviously, not hours *wisely* spent anyway….

Tetes air hujan jatuh, berjuta banyaknya
Seperti jarum bening, turun dari angkasa

Bergegas mereka menyongsong bumi
Meruapkan sejuk dan wangi kenangan damai masa kecil

Seorang kembara terhenti sejenak
Dalam-dalam dihirupnya
ingatan akan rumah nun jauh disana
dan wajah orang-orang tercinta
Disimpannya sepenuh-penuh rongga dada

Lalu ia tersenyum.
Sendiri, kembali ia melangkah pergi.

This is for my friend, Lia.

E’ per te
(An Italian lullaby for a newborn baby girl)

È per te che sono verdi gli alberi
It’s for you that the trees are green
e rosa i fiocchi in maternità
and the ribbons are pink at the nursery
è per te che il sole brucia a luglio
It’s for you that the sun burns in July
è per te tutta questa città
It’s for you this whole city
è per te che sono bianchi i muri
It’s for you that the walls are white
e la colomba vola
and that doves fly
è per te il 13 dicembre
It’s for you the 13th december
è per te la campanella a scuola
it’s for you the bell at school

è per te ogni cosa che c’è
everything that exists it’s for you
ninna na ninna e…
(this is kind of a Italian lullaby)

è per te che a volte piove a giugno
it’s for you that sometimes it rains in June
è per te il sorriso degli umani
it’s for you the people’s smile
è per te un’aranciata fresca
it’s for you a fresh orange
è per te lo scodinzolo dei cani
it’s for you that dogs move their tail
è per te il colore delle foglie
it’s for you the colour of the leaves
la forma strana della nuvole
the strange shape of the clouds
è per te il succo delle mele
it’s for you the apples’ juice
è per te il rosso delle fragole
it’s for you the strawberries’ red colour

è per te ogni cosa che c’è
everything that exists it’s for you
ninna na ninna e…

è per te il profumo delle stelle
it’s for you the stars’ fragrance
è per te il miele e la farina
for you the honey and the flour
è per te il sabato nel centro
it’s for you the saturday downtown
le otto di mattina
the 8 o’clock in the morning
è per te la voce dei cantanti
it’s for you the singers’ voice
la penna dei poeti
the poets’ pen
è per te una maglietta a righe
it’s for you a lined t-shirt
è per te la chiave dei segreti
it’s for you the key of secrets

è per te ogni cosa che c’è
everything that exists it’s for you
ninna na ninna e…

è per te il dubbio e la certezza
it’s for you the doubt and the certainty
la forza e la dolcezza
force and sweetness
è per te che il mare sa di sale
it’s for you that the sea is salted
è per te la notte di natale
it’s for you the Christmas night
è per te ogni cosa che c’è
it’s for you every thing that exists
ninna na ninna e…

(Per Lady A, grazie mille.)

It’s for you, that the stars are twinkling in the sky….
Don’t be afraid, you’re never alone.

Go I

To a far away land!

Where things are strange

and faces are cold

But there learn I will

For my cradle I  need to leave

Not to forsake my given land, no

Only to see what the world

is really like.

My wish was simple. But it was never meant to be.

What has passed, has passed,

and what I had missed,
was never meant to be mine.

Komentar saya untuk tulisan Mbak Anis, supaya komentar ini tidak memenuh-menuhi blog beliau.

Mbak Anis yang sangat saya sayangi,

ada perumpamaan, mengenai manusia dan ilmu.
Pertama, ada yang bagai tanah pasir. Ia tak mampu mengikat air yang jatuh padanya, tak pula air itu membawa manfaat bagi makhluk di sekitarnya.
Kedua, ada yang bagai tanah yang keras, yang mampu menampung air. Air yang ditampungnya dapat memberi manfaat bagi makhluk lain. Hewan dan manusia dapat minum darinya. Namun demikian, ia tak mampu memanfaatkan air itu untuk dirinya sendiri.
Ketiga, ada yang seperti tanah yang gembur. Ia dapat menyerap air itu, dan tumbuhan pun dapat tumbuh padanya, kemudian memberi manfaat pula bagi hewan dan manusia. Karenanya, air yang jatuh padanya niscaya akan bermanfaat luas, baik untuknya sendiri, juga untuk makhluk di sekitarnya.

Kita tentu berharap seorang penyampai ilmu dapat bernasib seperti jenis tanah ketiga; ilmu yang dimilikinya, selain bermanfaat untuk orang lain, dapat bermanfaat pula bagi dirinya sendiri.

Namun, sesungguhnya perjuangan menuju Allah ini adalah milik pribadi kita masing-masing. Kita tidak dapat mengetahui isi hati orang lain, termasuk isi hati seseorang yang sedang menyampaikan ilmunya kepada kita. Tuluskah ia? Ataukah niatnya tercemari keinginan akan materi dan pujian belaka? Tapi, kita juga perlu bertanya pada diri kita sendiri; apakah mengetahui niatan sang penyampai ilmu betul-betul relevan dengan tujuan kita, yaitu untuk mengambil manfaat bagi perjuangan kita. Sepertinya… tidak.

Ya, pada akhirnya, perjalanan ini adalah milik kita sendiri-sendiri. Kalaupun tidak murni niat seseorang yang menyampaikan ilmu, mungkin memang hanya sebatas itulah perannya, sebagai perantara Allah menyampaikan kasih sayang-Nya kepada kita berupa ilmu. Sebagai orang yang mengambil manfaat dari ilmu para penyampai, dengan berprasangka baik, sebagaimana diajarkan dalam Al-Qur’an, yang bisa kita lakukan hanya berterima kasih dan berusaha menghormati mereka, serta sebisanya mendukung upaya mereka menyebarkan ilmu yang mereka punyai. Di luar itu… just wish them luck with their own struggles….

To every path of life, difficulties.

To every effort, reward.

CSS sudah bisa ditampilkan dengan CherryPy, yay!

Yah, dari dulu sih memang bisa; yang aku maksud, aku yang sudah bisa menampilkan halaman dengan CSS melalui CherryPy. Pada percobaan-percobaan sebelumnya, halaman yang aku buat ditampilkan, namun tanpa pemformatan seperti yang didefinisikan oleh CSS yang terkait. Sempat pula yang tampil di Firefox isi CSS-nya (look kinda foolish, I’ll say). Kemudian aku menemukan link ini….

Yeah, mailing list rocks!

…and so arrives she at the templating languages.

Cheetah. Could this be the one?

‘Cheetah has many potential uses, but web developers looking for a viable alternative to ASP, JSP, PHP and PSP are expected to be its principle user group.‘

Cheetah User’s Guide, section 1.2