Timor Island - A Poem by Yohanes Manhitu

Timor Island

Timor island, beautiful island.
Your name is as fragrant
as sandalwood
granting fragrance to the island.

Your name is called
from generation to generation,
from the village to the town;
from the mountain to the seashore
Who does not know your name?

When the sun rises,
you are as bright as silver;
and when the sun sets,
you are as shiny as gold.

Men from the east, from the west,
from the north,
and the south
know who you are.

Timor island, you are the mother
of your descendents.
Pray so that they go from one country to another
and then come home
to praise your name!
Oh……Timor island, the island of beauty,
the island of fragrance.

Jogjakarta, 4 October 2002

By Yohanes Manhitu