The Passion of the Sound and the Wanderer
IN his early EIGHTIEs, Sitor Situmorang is still writing poems. Two volumes of his books containing more than 600 of his poemswritten between 1948 and 2005were published recently. The volumes comprise the complete collection of Sitors poems. Sitors poetic portraits, tossed about in the midst of both his Batak ancestors land and cities of the world, are evident in the books. He is known as the Lost Child who has never been able to stay put, a restless wanderer. Tempo looks at Sitors travel poems and reviews his sketches.
July 18, 2006
I am old and gray-hairedOn the way to being decrepit, yet I wander still And Lo, I am in London finallyFor what reason would I be summoned here?
THAT is an excerpt from the poem, The Rain in London Town. It was written in the year 1989. It was drizzling when Sitor and a girl passed Trafalgar Square. The girl suddenly pointed to a church. Sitor, I was baptized there. Then Sitors mind wandered, recalling his own baptism at a church in a rural hamle
...