Life in Poetry

“Let there be spaces in your togetherness,
And let the winds of the heavens dance between you.
Love one another but make not a bond of love:
Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls.

Fill each other's cup but drink not from one cup.
Give one another of your bread but eat not from the same loaf.
Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each one of you be alone,
Even as the strings of a lute are alone though they quiver with the same music.

Give your hearts, but not into each other's keeping.
For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts.
And stand together, yet not too near together:
For the pillars of the temple stand apart,
And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other's shadow.”

― Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet

It's time to talk about something dear and personal to us: poetry. Based on majority votes last month, we are going to discuss poetry books written by local and foreign authors. Some poems are powerful, emotional and able to move us in an unimaginable way. We will not limit the languages, and you are welcome to read a short poem (not more than 3 minutes) that you select from a book or wrote by yourself.

Expect to hear review on books like "The Essential Neruda: Selected Poems by Pablo Neruda" translated by City Lights Books, "Nyanyian Akar Rumput: Kumpulan Lengkap Puisi Wiji Thukul" (A Complete Collection of Poems written by Wiji Thukul), "Melihat Api Bekerja: Kumpulan Puisi M. Aan Mansyur" (Looking at the Working Fire) - an earlier work of Indonesia's promising young poet Aan Mansyur, "A Dream of Red Mansions" classics written by Cao Xueqin, "Howl and Other Poems" written by Allen Ginsberg, "Love is a Dog from Hell" and "The Last Night of the Earth Poems" written by Charles Bukowski, "Robert Frost's Poems" written by Robert Frost, "Dance Dance Revolution" written by Cathy Park Hong, and more. You surely don't want to miss it!

IMPORTANT NOTES: Since we have a number of books to be discussed this month, we need to keep each review short (3-5 minutes). We have a limited quota of participants. Don't forget to bring a valid ID card (KTP/ KITAS/ driver's license) to obtain an access card into the building. We will prioritize people who have RSVPed on this website or Facebook group to come in until 11:15 am. If you are on our waitlist, please be on standby at 11:15 to secure your spot.

AGENDA OF EVENT:

• Book reviews & discussion
• Book auctions
• Book swap (bring your old book and expect to bring home a "new" one. We don't accept journals, magazines, cookbooks or textbooks)

The discussion will be moderated in English and Bahasa Indonesia. This event is independently supported by JBC officers.

W: http://jakartabookclub.com (http://jakartabookclub.com/)

F: https://www.facebook.com/groups/jakartabookclub

I: @jakartabookclub (https://instagram.com/jakartabookclub/)

T: @jakartabookclub (https://twitter.com/jakartabookclub)

PS. We're currently looking for sponsorship to cover our F&B. If you're interested in supporting our activities, please send email to [masked]. For regular members, we urge you to chip in for our snacks and drinks for the next meetup (Rp 20,000 or more). Just ask for the donation box to one of our officers ― Shirley, Dina or Ollie. See ya!