Afternoon visit
by Kevin Browne
Kula nuwun,
I offer shyly
to my next door neighbors,
a distinguished elderly couple,
my Javanese still tentative.
Mangga mangga, they reply,
of course, as I step slowly into
their large but modest village home.
Meaning to bring up my irritation
about their 4 AM chickens outside my window,
and drying rice on a mat in front of my house,
instead I hesitate and fumble for
conversation and to be polite
and deferential, as is expected
given our respective ages and positions.
My kind neighbor, who has been playing in
the neighborhood gamelan ensemble since
before World War II, the jaman Belanda,
and his sweet wife who thinks of me and
brings me food during their slametan.
Unable to be direct, and with my thoughts
becoming ngalor-ngidul, after a short while
I manage a last nyuwun pamit
and exit back into the afternoon heat.
⸺
Translations of the Javanese
Kula nuwun: literally “I ask your pardon,” but generally meaning “Hello,” announcing one’s presence at someone’s doorMangga: come in, please (enter, etc.)
Jaman: time, era
Belanda: Dutch
Slametan: community gathering to mark important rites of passage
Ngalor-ngidul: literally “north-south”; idiomatically “jumbled”
Nyuwun pamit: ask permission (to leave), say goodbye
Kevin Browne is an anthropologist and writer currently living in Wisconsin, USA. This poem reflects experience from his early days of fieldwork in Yogyakarta, Indonesia.