Nowadays, poetry literature is booming as communication instrument to convey messages. Poetry has an important role that is useful for human life, one of which is a medium of communication because through poetry we can convey messages both implicitly and in writing. Poetry is a recording and interpretation of human experience, transformed in the most memorable form.
“Just like art, poetry becomes a space of expression when formal channels are silenced. Poetry is an extension of self that in some ways cannot be shown in real terms, being the most polite and courageous representative at the same time. Poetry is more audible, can move and is scary for some people because it touches the recesses of the heart, not the head. Poetry to me is a liberating playroom,” said Dr. Lintang Ratri Rahmiaji S.Sos., M.Sc., Lecturer of Communication Science, Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, Diponegoro University.
In the midst of her busy schedule as a lecturer, she is a literacy activist who also serves as Chairman I for the Arts and Culture Sector of Semarang City. She still finds time to write poetry and in 2020 published her first collection of poems, “AMBAVASNABHISMA: Serenade of Words” (AMBAVASNABHISMA: Serenada Kata-Kata). In addition, she also co-wrote in “CORPUS PANDEMIC POETRY: Knitting Words, Knowledge, and Hearts” (CORPUS PUISI PANDEMI: Merajut Kata, Ilmu, dan Hati) in 2020 and “The Acharya: Anthology of Poetry Teachers and Lecturers” (Sang Acharya: Analogi Puisi Guru dan Dosen) in 2020.
“Doing a job is like a mother’s love, it is overflowing for all time. The sooner it is finished, there will be a queue of other works, even during the period of Work From Home we no longer have time to rest on the weekends. So it is the same with other activities, such as family time, sports time, worship time and others, for me I need time for myself, the cool language is me time,” she said.
“Why? So that life is balanced, healthy and not bored. Limit working hours and give yourself time, usually to take care of the soul, body and thought. Keeping this soul, which is currently being actively worked during the pandemic, as a way to maintain the mental health. Now I am lucky that I can do many things to maintain mental health, one of which is writing poetry. Poetry then becomes an important moment of the process of nurturing and rejuvenating a healthy soul, many times of recovery,” she continued.
According to Lintang, art is something she takes the time to do, as long as the theme is reading, writing, being a judge for poetry reading or poetry book editor, being a reviewer for poetry books, being a member of the arts and culture committee, almost all of those activities are free. She will also be happy to watch poetry reading performance.
“I have been familiar with poetry since childhood, my father was the cultural editor of the Central Java newspaper and the Chair of Semarang Writer’s Family (Keluarga Penulis Semarang), and he often served as a poetry jury where he met my mother, who at that time was a champion poetry reader. Poetry is like family history, watching poetry performances together, poetry reading competitions, performing together, now we judge together. What is relatively new and requires courage is publishing a book of poetry. It was difficult to dispel fear as an artist in this era, I always felt that my writing was too young or immature. My husband is the leading supporter of this, he said, just publish it, even though he knows this is a publication of love poem,” he explained.
“We can’t force everyone to like poetry, but at a certain point everything can be touched with poetry. In order to be more accessible, in the digital era it is packaged so that it can be enjoyed on social media or in the form of videos. I see that there are friends who make video on Instagram of people reading poetry and I think that it is a very interesting idea. It means that poetry is not exclusive belongs to the artist only but for the wider community. We can discuss about poetry live on Instagram or analyze it on podcasts,” she said.
She likes the genre of mellow poetry, her favorite poems include the works of Sapardi Djoko Damono, Aan Mansyur and Joko Pinurbo, Lucia Priandini, Beni Satryo and Inggit Putria. Joko Pinurbo’s “Little Dictionary” (Kamus Kecil) and Sapardi Djoko Damono’s “In My Prayers” (Dalam Doaku), according to her, the two poems have a beautiful sound play, a simple metaphor but in short, the two poems go straight into the recesses of their souls and stay there forever.
Regarding the progress of Undip towards a World Class University, she hopes that the goal will not negate the process and will be implemented with a good intentions at the beginning. “It is not just rankings and numbers but also about human development. Universities are like human factories that are expected to be the best, so hopefully the main focus is human resource development, and that means the increasing quality of lecturers, educational staffs and learning facilities” she concluded. (Linda – Public Relations)
Translated by: Titis – Public Relations
