The Last Rain in Memory
I will set aside this mist for you
until the time comes to meet
for leaves have only just begun to grow
after the curse of a century of drought
for my failure as a man to turn stones
into gold
an elderly alchemist named khidir
who disappeared into eternity
left a message for me:
even one drop of the bitter rain that fell that evening
is capable of becoming a new world
no one knows, I’ve even concealed my shadow
in that old and windowless house
and that I’m looking now for other shadows
cast by a woman with reddened lips
upon seeing her, the rain will lessen
and everyone will begin to affirm the feeling of pain
I will set aside this mist for you
until the time comes to meet
and the leaves that are styudying to write down names
don’t come to know how your name is spelled
as death or as love
(2014)
John H. McGlynn adalah seorang penerjemah dan editor berkebangsaan Amerika yang telah tinggal di Indonesia sejak 1976. Selain sebagai Ketua Lontar, ia juga menjadi editor untuk Manoa , jurnal kesusastraan dari Universitas Hawaii sekaligus menjadi editor tamu Words Without Borders. Ia adalah anggota Komisi Internasional dari IKAPI (Ikatan Penerbit Indonesia), PEN International-New York, dan The Association of Asian Studies