“Everybody speaks English!”
I don’t know whether it’s a wish
or simply a sudden guess
before a long journey by bus.

Even in a global village proclaimed,
the world is still colourful indeed.
And everyone has his tongue
giving him words to sing.

Yours is English; mine, Indonesian.
Hers is Chinese; his, Galician.
But words alone cannot prove
that we all can live with love.

Yogyakarta, 15 April 2009

Tetum* translation by the author:

Mundu ne’e Hanesan Baur

“Ema hotu-hotu ko’alia inglés!”
Ha’u la hatene se ne’e hakarak
ka sasi’ik be mosu tekitekir de’it
molok viajen naruk ho autokarru.

Maski iha kanua globál be haklaken mós,
mundu sei soi hela kór oioin tebetebes.
No ema ida-idak ho ninia lian rasik
be fó ba nia liafuan hodi hananu.

Ó-nian, inglés; ha’u-nian, lia-indonézia.
Feto ne’ebá nian, xinés; mane nian, gallegu.
Maibé liafuan sira mesak la bele prova
katak ita hotu-hotu bele moris ho dame.

* Tetum is the first official language of East Timor