Welcoming the 80th Anniversary of Indonesian Independence, August 17, 2025
Poem:
Pulo Lasman Simanjuntak
INDONESIA IN A CORRUPTION EMERGENCY
-episode one-
Indonesia in a corruption emergency
Robbed from the earth’s crude oil
Enjoyed by the families
of oil and gas mafia figures
Never dying
Indonesia in a corruption emergency
With flaming eyes
Like a pest of bastard rats
Currency burned
One hundred and ninety-three trillion rupiah
Looted from coffins
Belonging to climbers
Oil import trade
Proceeds of corruption
Having children
Indonesia in a corruption emergency
Just counting the
sunlight-
Investigator’s investigation
So far
Just sleeping
On a rolled-up red carpet
Licked by cruel regimes
Dislikes poetry recitation
Always eating raw meat
Rotten and stale
Indonesia in a corruption emergency
I’m still alone
Still imagining
Millions This is sung in my heart
on the soles of this country’s feet
trampled by the energy oligarchy
controlled by hedonists
to this day
who still has
perpetual motion machines
running backward to share
but not
the results of corruption
mixing truth
and falsehood
gentlemen
have no self-respect
poor people
are getting worse
oh, poor Indonesia
Jakarta, Thursday, February 27, 2025
—
CORRUPTION IN VIRTUAL EARTH
Corruption is rampant in cyberspace
but I see it in the real world: Indonesia is great!
Wailing on prison walls
Revealing pleasure
In death attire
From the divided archipelago
I saw the mistress wearing a Hermès bag
worth six hundred million rupiah
While my master was cruising along the highway
in a flying car worth one hundred billion rupiah
While I only carried a laptop bag, it was truly embarrassing
It had already been sold, annoying
At a roadside grocery store
To buy a sack of rice and vegetarian food
My own car has an old diesel engine
Sometimes I feel anxious
Cruising along the inner-city toll road
Where the asphalt is full of holes
Eroded by corruption layered with pukis cake
Corruption in cyberspace
But I see it in the real world
Last night I saw again
The mistress with the face of Empress Atalya
posing in the cabin of a luxury jet
Just when I was interviewing
Queen Imelda Marcos showing off thousands of Santa Claus shoes
Made of gold-plated
Uncorrupted by moths
Corruption in cyberspace
But I see it in the real world
My master is getting greedier swallowing watches Idols
Corruption is truly rampant
Forty-six accounts worth five hundred and fifty billion rupiah were devoured by greed
Clogded in a sewer drain
Smelling the worst
Even another thirty-seven billion rupiah was found
Hidden shyly in a state-owned bank safe deposit box
Without wearing red diamond glasses
Corruption in cyberspace
But I see it in the real world
Sodom and Gomorrah’s revelry
Bribery bribery
Bribery bribery
Dancing to one tune
Towards the end of world history
Jakarta, 2024/2025
—
CORRUPTION AT BAAL’S TABLE
I see sadness
Hundreds of greedy faces
Sacrificed on the altar of Baal
Burning trillions of rupiah in currency
While poverty and hunger continue
Scattered on the roadside
Just like people who have not
faithfully paid their annual taxes
Dancing wildly
Still on the altar of Baal
Eatten by nine dragons
The ruler and greedy businessmen sucking fresh blood
luxury and pleasure assets
showcased
for future generations of children
never
abstinent
from offering forbidden foods
I also see anxiety
thousands of desperate faces
riddled by rising food prices
bound by debt
glittering bank interest
the future lies only
at the door of the cave of death
how long will corruption at the table of baal stop?
Ask about my poem that clashes with the feet of the capitalists and the hands of the oligarchs.
I don’t know, I want to continue completing this barbaric poem until everything can be resolved without bribes in the final judgment.
Jakarta, 2024/2025
—
CORRUPTOR
Hundreds of rats
with black fur
in convulsions
invade a dark house
an old married couple
become afraid
smell the poison
from the greed
of the money slaves
hate the grumbling
every night
due to boredom
collecting illicit currency
dollars or rupiah
wrapped in a safe
tin trade
without a trace
in a black rat hole
the deepest soil
dug by continuous lust
searching for emerald gemstones
wanting to be corrupted, becoming the most terrifying devil’s prey
corruptors’ bodies
should indeed be
cemented in concrete
impoverished without a grave
or shot at close range in the head
watched in a garbage dump rot
rolled out the red carpet
most embarrassing
how greedy
black furred rat
the smell vomited out
in the prayers of corruptors
always mention the name of god
idol of wealth
diligently crawling around
eat treasure
commoners
on the edge of the road
the poor
raise your hand
ask. eat
inhaled trillions
the stars are scattered
the prison was turned into a palace
without overheating
children and seven hundred wives
still like counting
Bank interest will never run out
by luxury house crime
flying cars to fashion dresses belonging to fashion slaves
in the basement of a suburban house
full of pure gold bars, shedding tears of blood
last time,
must be shot
with a sharp weapon
death penalty
endless
Jakarta, 2024/2025
—
