Old Latin Book

By: Yohanes Manhitu

There, on the floor, lies an old book.
No beauty it has in the arrogant library,
nobody cares about what existence it has.
I guess it has been asleep without a kiss.
It seems hard to be an ignored old thing.
Should all old things be forgotten?

Its appearance makes me curious.
I take two steps towards the old book.
I take it carefully and begin to examine it.
"My God", I say, "What a nice old book!”
It is a very good old Latin grammar book.
It is my gate to the realm of Latin.

Yogyakarta, 2 July 2003