Keramat Kristang / A Kristang Shrine
Poesia na Kristang, with an English translation
Santah kaladu, Eli
intresmiu stradu kung stretu,
Irmang di greza sa sombra,
Ta sperah otru salbador,
na fora di tempu sa spasu.
Ja susudeh ung tempu
Bolotu dos-dos ta andah na rua
Aiyoh, rua ke mar ke matu ke riu?
Bolotu ngka sabeh
kora eli chomah kung bolotu.
Sayang, eli chomah. Sayang-sayang.
Yo sa jingkli nona-nona.
Palabra rintah, song forsah:
Bos kung bos sa amurozu
mbes pra mbes, teng naki, nali, nala,
Na Eli?
Na Eli sa dianti, sertu.
Na Eli sa mundu, intresmiu stradu kung stretu.
Sertu isti ngka padri sa chang.
Mundu sa chang. Kristang sa chang.
Kantiga sa chang.
Beng santah, filu-filu Kristang.
Beng insinyah kung yo tudu bos sa sigredu.
Mama Ujong ta olah.
Nanggora Mama Ujong sa filu-filu santah kaladu, naki:
bos, kung bos sa amurozu, kung Eli.
Keng Eli?
Na otru mundu, Eli teng tantu nomi.
Podih fikah Anju. Diabu.
Anumbes Fitiseru.
Kizas Shamang.
Tudu pun podih, falah Eli
mas Yo kereh bos sa nomi pra Yo sa nomi.
Santah kaladu, Eli
ta sperah bolotu sa repostu.
Asih, bos falah, kung konfiansa stranjeru,
Bos Figurang.
Impoku tadri, Eli
sa surisu
Mas sertu pun ja chegah,
andah-andah bai bodru beng bodru di Eli sa kara.
Figurang, nubu Eli falah.
Ung sorti di chumpiang, ung sorti di diabu
Ung sorti di deus, ung sorti di malisozu.
(Kontah stori di kampu Kristang,
falah bos sa amurozu,
teng impoku midu
kauzu ngka sabeh otru jenti Kristang ta ubih.)
Surih tona, Eli
kung olu kumpridu.
Isti nomi, figurang, falah eli
yo gostah.
Ki kauzu, Figurang?
bos pidih, nubu impoku tadri.
Kifoi nus teng naki?
Surih tona mbes, eli,
pichah kung abrih eli sa mang:
Katra, karta tantu, katra di seis sentu riu kung seti sentu sabor;
Karta na eli sa dianti, na chang di Mama Ujong.
Santah kaladu, filu-filu Kristang…
Yo kereh studanti, falah Eli,
Jenti kereh sabeh mas di nus sa ila sa riku.
Bos ja dah nomi nubu kung yo;
sabeh, sayang, ki nomi bos sa dizaboh ja dah kung isti tera?
Tera Oru. Golden Khersonese.
Fola marelu kung tempra laranja.
Na dianti di eli santah katra teng dos-dos di isti klor, kung tudu otru.
Beng prendeh, sayang-sayang.
Di undi, sinyora Figurang, falah bos sa amurozu, beng isti katra?
Aiyoh, falah Eli. Isti ki sorti di preguntu?
Abrih bolotu sa olu.
Nus – bos, kung bos, kung yo, jenti Kristang.
Bolotu beng di tudu lugah kung tudu mundu.
Surih tona mbes, Eli,
tokah bos sa amurozu sa bochecha.
Di bos, sayang, falah Eli,
Di bos, sayang kung bos sa sayang.
Di tudu.
Santah kaladu, filu-filu Kristang.
Palabra pezadu.
Palabra muladu.
Mbes pra mbes, santah tudu na ila keninu,
Ung praya na basu di seu sombra.
Alrededor teng mar, kung mar, kung mar.
Teng midu?
Dadu anela
botah Eli rentu di fundu mar.
Dispois na peli di bos sa amurozu sa bochecha,
eli pintah katra,
dispachah ngua kung otru di bos sa amurozu sa peli,
Fola, kung fola, kung fola, kung fola.
Prumiru katra chumpiang, cheu di forsa kung fortidang.
Eli bibeh na rentu di kada jenti sa korsang.
Asih katra korsang, chumpiang sa kaza, chumpiang sa repairu.
Pra oras Deus kereh bizitah buskah oru.
Dispois katra bela di barku, bentu sa reinya.
Kereh drumih na kama di miliang mar.
Chegah katra kurenti, riu sa re.
Sperah isti ila-ila nubu logu bibeh.
Di fundu subih katra spada, sperah dona-donu retu,
Re kung reinya muda mistih birah nubu.
Sertu pun subih katra skudu, armasang pra keng-keng presizu,
Keng-keng pun podih prendeh korua sa sigredu.
Inda teng katra aloleng, pra trindadi tadri,
Pra kaminyu, kung korti, kung tudu lugah lonzi.
Nenang kabah! Teng katra stranjeru
Kontu bos kereh, membes anju membes diabu.
Tantu katra, sinyor Figurang,
falah bos sa amurozu.
Yo sa bochecha teng kansadu.
Sigih rih akeli malisang, akeli Figurang,
mas Eli intindeh.
Asih Eli bai otru banda,
bai kung bos nali.
Teng bong, Eli falah kung bos.
Tudu bong, sertu, falah bos kung Eli.
Prubah Eli bos sa sombra.
Cherah Eli bos sa lumi.
Komesah nubu Eli kung bos sa korpu, bos sa riku, bos sa kampu, bos sa katra:
Kauzu stranjeru mistih kazah, asih teng katra bela infanta.
Tudu ja skiseh dona dretu di Jingkli Nona.
Kauzu aloleng mistih kemah, asih teng katra fogereza.
Tudu bai Melaka antigu nadi birah kaza.
Kauzu skudu mistih gadrah, asih teng katra blangkas.
Tudu mistih prendeh membes andah dianti pun andah tras.
Kauzu spada mistih matah, asih teng katra kruz.
Tudu teng midu olah Deus sa luz.
Kauzu kurenti mistih kureh, asih teng katra anoti.
Tudu podih teng konfiansa kung semesta sa berdadi.
Kauzu bela di barku mistih kriseh, asih teng katra pastu bedri.
Tudu bafu kung ar teng onsong sa lugah propi.
Kauzu korsang mistih incheh, asih teng katra tempra.
Nggeng nggeh kumih na fora.
Kauzu chumpiang mistih mureh, asih teng katra tigri.
Morti sa kambradu mbes agora, onti kung sempri.
Sayang, sayang, santah kaladu sayang;
Kora Figurang kabah falah isti palabra,
Disparseh Eli, kung mar, kung ila.
Birah bolotu dos na mar ke mati ke rua.
Mas basu di bolotu sa peu inda teng isti diseis katra.
Nteh keramat Kristang.
Nteh otru Deus seng Deus.
Isti tudu nteh.
Nteh kaminyu nubu
Seng kaminyu alrededor
Kaminyu di ila-ila di sonu,
Kaminyu na rentu.
Ung sorti di chumpiang, ung sorti di diabu
Ung sorti di deus, ung sorti di malisozu.
Ung sorti rentu, diseis sorti na rentu.
Angkoza eresberes fikah ung korsang retu.
Ung figura, ung figurang Kristang.
They sit quietly,
between street and stage,
Sibling of the church’s great shadow,
Waiting for their other Messiah,
outside space for time.
Once upon a time,
You both were walking along the road
Aiyoh, or was it the sea, or the jungle, or the river?
You don’t quite know
when They called to you.
Beloved, They say. My beloveds.
My two Jingkli Nona.
Words enter and the voice commands in love:
You and your beloved
Suddenly are here, there, between, beyond
Inside Them?
In front of Them, of course.
In Their world, between straits and stage.
No Priest’s Land this is.
This is the World’s Land. The Kristang Land.
The Songs’ Land.
Come, sit beside me, sons of the sea and siege.
Come teach me of your secrets.
Mama Ujong is watching.
And so you sit, here:
you, and your beloved, and Them.
Who are They?
In other worlds, They have many names.
They could be Angel. Demon.
Perhaps Magician.
Perhaps Shaman.
Also can, all of them, They say
but I want your name for My name.
Sit quietly,
for They await your response.
So, you say, with a stranger’s heretical confidence,
You must be the Figurang.
Their smile arrives
a little late
but nonetheless, arrive it does,
spreading line to line across Their face.
Figurang, They repeat.
A champion and a demon.
A god and a scoundrel.
(Who tells stories of our Kristang world,
adds your beloved hastily;
he is a little afraid
if other Kristang people might be listening.)
They smile again,
with eyes that desire both of you, and all of you.
This name, Figurang, they say,
fits.
What would you have of us, Figurang?,
you ask, again a little belatedly.
Why are we here?
Smiling yet again, wide and brimful,
They close and open their hands:
So many {cards/maps}, {cards/maps} of six hundred rivers, {cards/maps} of seven hundred scents;
{Cards/maps} spread before them, on the stolen earth of Mama Ujong.
Sit quietly, my beloveds…
I seek students, They say.
People who would know more of our island’s treasures.
You have given me a new name;
Do you know, beloveds, what name your ancestors gave to this island?
Golden Land. Golden Khersonese.
Leaves of amber and spices of the sun.
In front of Them sit {cards/maps} filled with both these colours, and so many more.
Come learn, my beloveds.
From where, Lady Figurang, says your beloved, come these {cards/maps}?
Aiyoh, They say. What kind of a question is this?
Open your eyes.
We – you, and you and me – we are jenti Kristang.
We come from every land and every world.
They smile, richly and truthfully yet again,
and touch the cheek of your beloved.
They come from you, They say to your beloved,
From you, my beloved, and from the beloved of my beloved.
From all.
Sit quietly, my beloveds.
Heavy words.
Wet words.
Suddenly, you are sitting on an island,
A shoreline cast beneath the shadow of striking night,
Around you ocean, and ocean, and ocean.
Are you afraid?
Their ring finger
Is dipped into watery depth
And paints lines across your beloved’s cheek,
Lines and {cards/maps},
Gently peeling them one after another from your beloved’s skin,
Leaves, and sheets, and reams, and realms.
First, the {card/map} of the champion, filled with strength and fortitude,
Alive in the hearts of all mankind.
Then, the {card/map} of the heart, the champion’s home, the champion’s shelter,
From time to time where God visits looking for gold.
After that, the {card/map} of the sails of the ship, the queen of the winds,
Seeking to sleep on the bed of a million seas.
Comes now the {card/map} of the tide, king of the rivers,
Waiting for these islands to live again.
From the depths rises the {card/map} of the sword, waiting for their true owner,
The once and future kings and queens will return.
Of course one has the {card/map} of the shield, armor to whomsoever needs it,
Whoever is willing to learn the secrets of the crown.
There is still the {card/map} of the lantern, aflame for the slow, lazy twilight,
For journeys, and courts, and all the places far away.
Not yet finished! There is still the {card/map} of the stranger,
Sometimes the daimon, sometimes the demon, at your leisure.
So many cards, Lord Figurang,
says your beloved.
My cheeks are tired.
They go on to smile, that trickster, that Figurang,
but they understand.
So they go to another place,
There to where you are.
Hello, They say to you.
Hello, certainly, you say to Them.
They taste your darkness.
They smell your light.
They begin again, with your body, your riches, your spaces, your {cards/maps}:
Because the stranger must marry, so there is the {map/card} of the bela infanta.
All have forgotten the true owner of the Jingkli Nona.
Because the lantern must burn, so there is the {map/card} of the lighthouse.
All who went to old Melaka never needed to return home.
Because the shield must guard, so there is the {map/card} of the horseshoe crab.
All must learn that sometimes going forward is going back.
Because the sword must kill, so there is the {map/card} of the cross.
All are afraid in the light of God.
Because the tide must flow, so there is the {map/card} of night.
All can trust in the truth of the Universe.
Because the sails must grow, so there is the {map/card} of the green parrot.
All winds and airs have their own proper place.
Because the heart must be filled, so there is the {map/card} of spice.
No one ever wants to eat outside of home.
Because the champion must die, so there is the {map/card} of the tiger.
Death’s best friend now, yesterday and always.
Beloved, beloved, sit quietly beloved;
Once the Figurang has finished saying these words,
They disappear, water, island now unseen, unheard.
Onto the road (or jungle or ocean) you once again emerge.
But at your feet remain the sixteen {cards/maps} you have learned.
There are no Kristang keramats.
There are no gods except God.
All this does not exist.
There is no new way
Except the way around,
The way of the islands of dreams
The way within.
A champion and a demon.
A god and a scoundrel.
Something from within, sixteen things from within.
Odds and ends make something true of the heart.
A Kristang Figurang.