Marion Bloem's Vrijheid/ Kemerdekaan/ Freedom

I was browsing this Dutch news portal when I came upon an article on Marion Bloem who encourages her Facebook pals to translate her poem Vrijheid into as many languages as possible. I've no idea who she is, I don't know her on Facebook either, but I'll do a translation anyways into both English and Indonesian because that is how I roll.

For the original Dutch poem go here.

Indonesian translation (last updated: 5/16/12):

Kemerdekaan

Jika arti merdeka: diam kau
karena aku hendak bicara

Jika arti merdeka: kau di balik jeruji,
supaya kami tak perlu takut
akan segala rupa dan adatmu
yang berbeda

Jika arti merdeka: memasung mentari hari esok
dengan cara sedikit meredupkan
mentari hari ini

Jika arti merdeka: menutup pintu
dan di layar menyaksikan dengan merdeka apa-apa
yang mestinya tak bakal datang kemari

Jika arti merdeka: selalu tidur nyenyak
karena lidah orang lain telah dengan sengaja
dibelenggu

Jika arti merdeka: makan apa dan kapan kau kehendaki
tapi dengan menjatuhkan kulit ari ke dalam koran
tempat kelaparan diberangus

Jika arti merdeka: tak perlu tahu apa
yang memerdekakanku, yang mempertahankan kemerdekaanku,
yang setiap hari menyekapku dalam kemerdekaan

Jika kemerdekaan berarti: menunggu sampai yang lain
memerdekakanku dari ketakutan-ketakutan
yang kuyakini dengan teguh

Jika kemerdekaan menurap pemikiranku
Jika kemerdekaan di sekitarku terbang di mana-mana sekeliling
dan dalam diriku,
tapi ia tak tertangkap olehmu

Jika kemerdekaan melindungi aku
terhadap gagasan-gagasanmu yang
kelewat asing bagiku

Jika kemerdekaan hari ini
bagiku adalah begitu lumrah, tapi kau
tak bisa memaknakannya

Maka kemerdekaan adalah ekor bagiku
dan pancung kepala bagimu
Maka kemerdekaan adalah angin dan sewenang-wenang

Tapi mungkin – dengan persetujuan bersama tentunya – aku
untuk sementara waktu
atau pun untuk waktu yang lebih lama
boleh melepaskan sedikit dari kemerdekaanku
yang berlimpah-limpah ini
untuk memerdekakanmu dari kemerdekaanku
yang menyesakkan

Marion Bloem

English translation (last updated: 5/1/12):

Freedom

If being free means: you, shut up
because I have something to say

If being free means: you behind bars
so that we don’t have to fear
your being different
and all your different doings

If being free means: defining strictly
the day of tomorrow by making the day of today
a bit less of a day

If being free means: closing the doors
and freely watching on the screen
that which should be safely away

If being free means: sleeping at ease always
because others have been wilfully deprived
of their tongue

If being free means: eating what and when you want
though peels are being dropped into newspapers
where hunger is concealed

If being free means: not needing to know what
has freed me, keeps me free, confines me every day
in freedom

If freedom means: waiting for others
to free me of fears in which I
have profound trust

If freedom plasters my thoughts
If freedom around me blows everywhere in
and about me, but
remains elusive to you

If freedom protects me against
your ideas which I
deem too different

If freedom today
seems so natural to me, though you
don't know what it means

Then freedom is tails to me
and heads off to you
Then freedom is air and arbitrary

But perhaps – by mutual consent of course –
I am at liberty
to either temporarily or for a longer period of time
cede some of my ample freedom
to free you
of my suffocating
freedom

Marion Bloem