I want to write
an erotic poem
in which raw words, unadorned,
where metaphors are unnecessary
and breasts, for instance,
do not become hills
nor a woman’s body a sultry landscape
nor intercourse ‘the most intimate embrace’.
It’s quite clear
this poem is written in the space
between exposure and concealment
between hypocrisy and true feeling.
Toeti Heraty (born 1933) Indonesia
Translated by Ulrich Kratz and Carole Satyamurti
Source: Poetry Translation Centre
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