Wounds of the Sundanese Land
Wounds of the Sundanese Land By Asep Rohmandar. In valleys once dressed in green, the kacapi’s gentle strings now falter, the ripples of Ci Tarum whisper stories of promises that fell before the harvest came. In the village hall, the seats no longer belong to the people— filled instead with faces bound by feast and bargain, cartels sow rice in fields of dust, harvesting the grain before the seed has woken. Oligarchs weave invisible nets, catching the dreams of village children, trading their tomorrows for crumpled envelopes, whose stench cuts deeper than burning incense. In coffee sta...