Isyana

Underneath strange songs I'm there Underneath unattainable dreams I'm there Inside these silently wailing walls I'm there Break these walls Please Reach out to me I can't promise to love you In the way you're used to But I promise To give you my heart in full.

It was a humid Sunday afternoon. Dark clouds hung low in the sky. To the common masses the dark clouds would soon pour rain down, but to one having spent twenty-two years in Jakarta, rain might or might not pour down. Sometimes dark clouds just hang in there, unwavering, all day and night, for the sake of hanging in there. Having fun watching Jakartans hastily getting clothes off the laundry line for the downpour that might not come. However, rain or no rain, the humidity persists. My parents and I were at the airport on the cloudy Sunday afternoon to pick up a colleague of my father’s who was arriving from Pontianak in about an hour. T

I am A teen Of seventeen Feeling old by seventeen. I see bright lights On wild legs A real Louis Vuitton with dirty flats from The Number One Shoe Warehouse. I see people Seeing in the dark Not quite themselves Mouth smelling strange. One look A sigh A disapproval A relief It's clean No stain. Crowd Maddening My mouth smelling the same strangeness My flats as dirty, as cheap My Louis Vuitton as real. This is me. No Not me. Not. Me. But honey, you are, indeed, a dupe.

Come closer Darling love I want to bless my eyes With the beauty that is your face. Come closer Precious jewel My arms outstretched Only for you. Come closer My gift from heaven My tears are longing to thank you For coming to my life, many a moon ago And for staying through sorrow and happiness. Come closer Oh do come closer And have a look At what I have for you. Something that us humans toil day in and day out for Something so simple Yet so complicated Come closer And have a listen. I love you.