Poem 502

This is a found poem, taken verbatim from a newspaper article sometime in the 80s … I like the way it expresses itself about the life under our life …

Underground River

Deep below the dry hilly terrain
south of the Indonesian city
of Wonosari
an underground river
thunders towards the Indian ocean
where it deposits mud and stones
and a large number of corpses
with bullet and knife wounds

the villagers who scratch a precarious living
growing rice maize and potatoes
ask no questions
                                   they assume the dead
are victims of the penembak misterius
mysterious killers

the corpses deposited in the ocean
are almost invariably tattooed
signifying membership
                                              of criminal gangs
the law cannot cope
the penembak misterius can

corpses have been dumped at hospitals
on highways
in the middle of university campuses
wells and rivers have become polluted
and villagers complain
about having to work
as unofficial gravediggers