Letter to Pertiwi

Dear Pertiwi, the mother of nature

How beautiful you are with the enthralling panorama

How rich you are with thousands miscellaneous ethnics and cultures

My love for you won’t be cracked by time, nor be faded by dust

 It will be eternal within your heart

Oh my dear Indonesia…

You have been a little old, and a bit different than what you used to be

You look frail, loose and wobbly

What happened to you?

Are you weeping at your trees chopped by the greedy hands?

Are you crying at your miserable people oppressed by the aristocracy?

Are the gnawing rats hurting you?

I don’t know... but I can feel your pain

Verily! I don’t want to see you drop your tears any more than this

But I can’t do this by myself…

What I can do is just hang up my hope on you

So you can be better than this

So that the homeless can get their proper shelter

So that the uneducated can get their proper education

So that the cultural and natural wealth remain ours

May this is not just my wishful thinking

Best regards from your people