I hear a cock crowing before dawn.
It gives me a picture of my old days,
The very beautiful moments in life
When I was like a colt in the field.

No alarm clock we needed to buy
For our cocks were ready to crow
No costly truck we meant to have
For horses were steady to move.

Every morning I bathed in sunlight
Every night I watched the moonlight
Our fields were ready to serve us rice
Our cows were glad to pour us milk.

When the rice was turning yellow,
We all spent more time in the fields,
And all hungry sparrows were enemies
For they tried to steal our golden grains.

Time is not running, but flying like a jet.
Its cloudy walls remain impossible to leap
To return to yesterday though we insist.
A picture in mind is all we have to keep.

Nowadays, my days are the days of today,
The crowing cock keeps praying for liberty,
I can see the sunlight only when it is high
And no meadow is cheap for me to buy.

Jogjakarta, 21 August 2004