Fisherman on the Indian Ocean at Pangandaran

Close to the border of Sunda and Java Tengah
Halfway between Bandung and Yogyakarta
Northwest of the criminals jailed in Nusa Kembangan
There lies my lovely kampung called Pangandaran

Here is the Green Canyon and a deer reservation
On a peninsula between the jungle and the ocean
The largest sand beaches of southern Java are here
Full of colourful perahoes in the sun bright and clear

The next stops in the ocean to the south are Australia and Africa
To the west and the north are India and Saoudi Arabia
Big fish like marlin and tuna swim close to the shores here
Even whales are abundant and very near

A twelve meter beached whale caused a lot of fun
Iwan took the bones which in the blubber was no fun
They make up a large decorating pile in the garden of my house
And by now may be the hiding place for many a snake or mouse

Even the huge whale shark occasionally comes to the shore
But the fishermen only take the fins and no more
The waters are full of sharks and big hunting fish
It is a fisherman’s paradise and that is what I wish

The lobsters come to breed on the shallow coral
They have the highest value even compared with the bawal
And this fish in India called pomfret
Is the most delicious fish I have tasted yet

The hunter with the sharp nose and the big sails
Still in these offshore waters prevails
They roam together with tenggiri, tonkol and dorado
Rendering these waters with underseas mountains a veritable eldorado

It was at the Lelang that I recognized by future fate
Here I would fish and look for a date
My favourite sport would become my new profession
And so it came to be after this confession

Keman was the first to take me out to fish with a rod
It did not turn out to be a long shot
Several ten to twenty kilo tenggiri’s were the price
To be eaten fresh with the usual Indonesian rice and spice

The professionals fish with nets of the long line
With nets when the weather is quiet and fine
But with much wind and rain in the air
It is the long line which catches fair

The three perahoes carry my grandchildren’s name
So Sara, Mees and Victor are now of some fame
In my lovely village of Pangandaran
Not far from Kiki’s Padaheran

The fish and shrimps in my house are always fresh
From the tuna’s with their red flesh
To the bawal with its incredible delicious taste
To the shrimps often used as the pasta’s paste