A Poetry Collection by Leni Marlina, Zulkifli Abdy & Herry Tany
(PPIPM–Indonesia, PPIC, Satu Pena, KEAI, ACC SHILA, WPM–Indonesia)
Image Source: © 2025 Leni Marlina — Book Cover Design by Starcom Indonesia, Ref. No. 25–00026.
Poetry Collection by Leni Marlina, Zulkifli Abdy & Herry Tany: “On The Land That Has Lost Its Languange”
/1/
On The Land That Has Lost Its Language
Poem by Leni Marlina
(UNP Padang, PPIPM-Indonesia, PPIC, Satu Pena West Sumatera KEAI, ASM, Literacy Community, ACC SHILA, WPM-Indonesia)
Indonesian-English translation by Leni Marlina
in this land bereft of its own tongue
even the wind learns to spell despair
infants find no time for tears—
they become dust within prayers.
upon the fractured womb of the earth
iron birds rend the night
no stars—no reason—
only numbers
and their anguish never reaches the airwaves.
I come bearing no arms
only words
etched upon the void
so the blackened sky may remember
we remain—
humans who refuse to forget.
no need for blades
one line of verse suffices
to cleave the silence
and kindle a dim glow
amid collapsing logic.
see—two small feet
tightrope-walking shards and embers
yet their eyes still cradle the sky
as if forgiving a world
that never kept its promise.
I speak to the dew
for water knows first
how heavy a pain can grow
when silenced
between explosions and hushed prayers.
ask not who’s to blame
for history is penned again and again
by trembling hands
pens falter
before justice is dared.
I seek only a voice
amid nights that fall, one by one
so tomorrow
still holds an empty page
for children
to script their dreams
with the bravest letters.
Padang, West Sumatra, Indonesia, 2025
/2/
Urbanite City
Poem by Zulkifli Abdy
(PPIPM-Indonesia, PPIC, Satu Pena, KEAI)
Indonesian-English translation by Leni Marlina
a flash of news disturbs the morning—
Jakarta, city of the urbanite
echoes with word of total gridlock.
is this congestion a sign—
that we have truly stopped?
Jakarta, city of the urbanite
by day it’s suffocating,
by night strangely hollow.
Morning Veranda,
Banda Aceh, Indonesia
May 29th, 2025
/3/
When the Roots of Words Rise from the Darkness
Poem by Leni Marlina
(UNP Padang, PPIPM-Indonesia, PPIC, Satu Pena West Sumatra, KEAI, ASM, Literacy Community, ACC SHILA, WPM-Indonesia)
words—
splintered,
scorched,
adrift like ashes
through blood-lit air,
as tyrant-flames devour the sky—
yet still,
they do not die.
They kindle in silence,
climbing from the deepest roots,
threading through the shadow-veins
of the human hush.
When words fall into hush,
know: silence is not death.
It is a whisper within the tempest,
a breath held long enough
to become thunder—
echoes that quake
the hidden hollows
of the soul’s last sanctuary.
Upon a land unspoken,
dust rests upon sorrow’s face,
and wind recites the wounds
of a bleeding civilization.
Words are not mere breath—
they are the soul’s sentinels,
a flame unyielding,
a murmur carved
from meanings that refuse to drown.
Be still.
Wait.
Look.
Listen.
For from the womb of darkness,
the root of words awakens—
touching the torn sky,
ripping the frost of mute nights.
And from a heart made pure,
a word flares forth,
undaunted,
to speak what must be spoken.
Padang, West Sumatra, Indonesia, 2025
/4/
Silent Pilgrimage
Poem by Zulkifli Abdy
(PPIPM-Indonesia, PPIC, Satu Pena, KEAI)
Indonesian-English translation by Leni Marlina
I leave myself behind
to walk this quiet, lonely path
accompanied only by a lonesome heart
that melds with each step,
with a truth that never lies,
guiding this long pilgrimage
beneath the sky, upon the earth,
wherever I may wander.
Morning Veranda,
Banda Aceh, 21 May 2025
—————————–
Zulkifli Abdy, poet of quiet flame, born in Jambi, rooted in Aceh since 1970. Schooled in Communication, yet shaped by solitude and self-taught fire. His verses and prose echo the soul’s hush and storm. For him, writing is not craft but calling—an altar of memory, a diary of the unseen, where thought and feeling find their truest form.
/5/
Nameless Gravestones
Poem by Herry Tany
(PPIPM-Indonesia, PPIC, WPM-Indonesia)
Indonesian-English translation by Leni Marlina
how arrogant they are—
lords and ladies before their twenty‑one inch screens
watching rows of weeping tombstones
pained,
holding wounds deep—
stripped of their rights,
interred without name.
do not let me die too soon
nor grant me even a moment’s rest
in visiting Gaza’s shattered ruins,
unarmed by any poet’s blade.
the sun betrays too soon,
pens ignite and burn too fast,
now the greatest possibility
is to amplify possibility
within impossibility.
so that no one I meet dares utter “Impossible!”
without blood,
they dried up
before ink could rust,
and justice could no longer castrate the morning to betray.
something sharper than any blade,
more lethal than poison,
swifter than a bullet,
worse than all:
the cruelty of the Zionists.
I refuse to return
to Dracula’s realm sucking blood,
before lungs are thick with tragedy
and repetition forges its own dark meaning.
clench your fist and point to the sky—
only one word:
destroy!
Jakarta,
December 28th, 2024
————————–
Herry Tany — the stage name of Herry Sunandar, born in Jakarta — is a dynamic voice in civic life. Active in social, political, economic, and cultural movements, he also shines as a journalist, writer, poet-performer, stage actor, and cinematic artist.
/6/
Send My Tears, O Cloud
Poem by Leni Marlina
(UNP Padang, PPIPM-Indonesia, PPIC, Satu Pena West Sumatera KEAI, ASM, Literacy Community, ACC SHILA, WPM-Indonesia)
send my tears, O cloud,
across a sky silenced by propaganda,
over earth exhausted, bearing death
without headstones, without hymns home.
you who roam borders unchecked,
touching maps without breaching nations—
bear witness for those erased,
souls buried between headlines and oblivion.
let my tears fall as patient rain,
not to drown but to cleanse
so buried conscience may revive
from war’s dust.
Cloud, you know hurt’s hue
without tasting blood,
hear the scream
unheard by peace‑conference mics.
carry this sorrow across continents—
from Gaza to Kabul,
from Rohingya to fractured Africa—
until the world no longer asks, “Who’s right?”
but laments,
“Who remains unsaved?”
teach us to weep without shame,
to listen without judgment,
to touch without conquest.
send my tears, O cloud—
a poem descending from the sky—
not to condemn, but to remind.
not to burn, but to soothe.
tell this to the world:
tears are hope’s truest form.
they fall but never vanish.
they dissolve but never yield.
they are silent,
but can move the world.
Padang, West Sumatra, Indonesia, 2025
/7/
O Wind, Walk With Me
Poem by Leni Marlina
(UNP Padang, PPIPM-Indonesia, PPIC, Satu West Sumatra, KEAI, ASM, Literacy Community, ACC SHILA, WPM-Indonesia)
O wind,
walk with me—
breathe your hush into my ear,
whisper the secrets the earth dares not say,
teach me to drift, unburdened by weight.
You are wind—
unseen, unheld,
a touch without voice,
a flow without direction.
Born before words,
and dying only when memory fades.
You are a murmur in prayer,
a breath in stillness,
between kings and beggars,
you are the same—formless, free.
O wind,
walk with me through shadows,
bear peace from the ends of the earth,
so I may know—though you hold no shape,
true strength is the unseen.
A pauper once begged you to carry him
until only love remained.
You did—he vanished.
Should the world collapse,
still you will blow,
an eternal breath,
changing only in form.
O wind,
stay with me here,
and meet me there—
beyond.
Padang, West Sumatra, Indonesia, 2025
————————-
Leni Marlina is a poet, writer, and lecturer from West Sumatra, Indonesia, actively engaged in both national and international literary communities. Since 2022, she has been a member of SATU PENA West Sumatra (chaired by Sastri Bakry) and was honored as The Outstanding Writer 2025 by the same organization.
Appointed as the Indonesian Poetry Ambassador for ACC SHILA (Shanghai Huifeng International Literary Association, led by Anna Keiko) and Asia Representative Coordinator for ACC SHILA since 2025, she is also an active member of World Poetry Movement–Indonesia. Through her poetry, Leni continues to echo voices of humanity and peace across borders.
Her international journey began with a Master’s degree in Writing and Literature in Australia. Since 2006, she has served as a lecturer in English Literature at Universitas Negeri Padang. Beyond academia, Leni contributes as a freelance journalist, editor, and digital content creator.
Her poetry collections are featured on several digital platforms and can be accessed via her official poetry link: 🔗 Suara Anak Negeri News – Leni Marlina’s Poetry.
Leni is also the founder and director of several digital-based communities in literature, literacy, and social advocacy, including:
1. World Children’s Literature Community (WCLC) – Visit WCLC
2. Poetry-Pen International Community (PPIC)
3. PPIPM-Indonesia (The Poetry Community of Indonesian Society’s Inspirations):
https://shorturl.at/2eTSB |
https://shorturl.at/tHjRI
4. Starcom Indonesia Community (Starmoonsun Edupreneur Community Indonesia):
https://rb.gy/5c1b02 Starcom
5. Linguistic Talk Community (Ling-TC)
6. Literature Talk Community (Littalk-C)
7. Translation Practice Community (Trans-PC)
8. English Language Learning, Literacy, and Literary Community (EL4C)
(Putrie)
