Sajak Ted Kooser
PADA mulanya, saya mestikan dia wanita jelita,
melangkahkan kaki, hati-hati, pada puisi-puisiku,
petang hari, ia dapati diri sendiri saat paling sepi,
rambutnya masih bagai tirai kabut di tengkuk
baru saja keramas. Mestinya dia memakai jas hujan
jas yang dikoyak usia tua, kotor pula,
sebab ia tak punya cukup uang ke binatu.
Dan dia sejenak melepas kaca mata, di toko buku itu
dia membaca sekilas buku sajakku. Dan berkata
pada diri sendiri, "Dengan uang seharga buku ini,
jas hujan yang kotor ini bisa kubawa ke laundry."
Dan itulah yang ia lakukan.
Selecting A Reader
First, I would have her be beautiful,
and walking carefully up on my poetry
at the loneliest moment of an afternoon,
her hair still damp at the neck
from washing it. She should be wearing
a raincoat, an old one, dirty
from not having money enough for the cleaners.
She will take out her glasses, and there
in the bookstore, she will thumb
over my poems, then put the book back
up on its shelf. She will say to herself,
"For that kind of money, I can get
my raincoat cleaned." And she will.
