75 Years of Literary Journey: Prof Harris Effendi Thahar: Poems Collection by Leni Marlina (PPIPM–Indonesia)
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Harris Effendi Thahar: Guardian of the Horizon of Words
By: Leni Marlina
In the valley of silence,
an echo awakens.
Mount Singgalang whispers to the clouds:
“Behold him, the keeper of letters,
weaving the universe from fragments of memory.”
From Tembilahan, where dreams take root,
an oil lamp flickers, shadows dance.
Harris, a child of the night,
a wanderer of solitude,
etching worlds upon the pristine page.
Sweet Water carves the legend of waves,
Batang Arau paints longing in its flow.
Yet you,
Bang Harris,
are no mere scribe;
you breathe life into every word.
“Si Padang,”
a tale of forgotten lands,
guiding caravans through the shadow of values,
“Mother’s House,”
an unfinished verse,
a love song woven into the walls of memory.
Your words flow like rivers unending,
coursing through silent valleys,
piercing the boundaries of time,
bridging the ancient and the new.
Bang Harris,
you are not merely a writer—
you are a pilgrim of souls,
a sculptor of meaning,
listening to the faint steps of tradition,
calling out whispers of ancestors nearly forgotten.
Tasmania knows your name,
a place where you planted the roots of language,
teaching the world of love and time,
proving that literature is a home without walls.
Bang Harris,
you are the flame in a season of silence,
a light emerging in the corridors of the heart.
Immortal, not through eternity,
but in every name you’ve awakened.
You are poetry itself:
fluid, transformative, untamed.
Like a river heeding the wind’s whispers,
you, Prof. Harris,
are the guardian of the horizon of words.
Padang, West Sumatra, Indonesia, January 4th, 2025
The original title of the poem in Indonesia languange is “Harris Effendi Thahar: Penjaga Cakrawala Kata
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Harris Effendi Thahar: Writing with Pen and Heart
By: Leni Marlina
From Tembilahan,
beneath the murmurs of the twilight breeze,
you were born—
a child of earth who knows the longing for land,
from a home fragrant with countless books,
from nights so still,
yet alive with debates birthing stars.
You are a river that never tires,
flowing endlessly,
telling tales of forgotten lands.
Each current carries whispers of tradition,
a poetry that seeps into life’s every step.
“Si Padang,”
a mapless story,
rooted in your soul.
Your words breathe life into the forgotten,
time unbroken even by storms of modernity.
Seventy-five years rooted in Minangkabau soil,
your pen transforms into ancestral voices,
telling untold tales,
like a great house standing strong against time’s gale.
In your letters,
a mother’s face remains vivid,
the earth guides you home,
like the sea welcoming dusk,
like dawn endlessly embracing the morning.
Bang Harris,
you are a song etched into time,
every word an echo spanning ages,
not merely writing,
but embodying life that leaps across space and time.
We do not simply read;
we inhale.
We do not merely listen;
we journey.
Through your sentences,
we rediscover our faces,
our unspoken souls.
Your steps transcend space,
you are a bridge linking history to tomorrow,
reviving forgotten stories,
breathing them anew through your pen.
Bang Harris Effendi,
your name flows like an unending stream,
etched in time’s fabric,
forming ripples of life,
bringing tales that never fade,
a light for a nation thirsting for truth.
Prof. Harris Effendi Thahar,
every page you open is a world in motion,
fertile ground for ideas to bloom.
You write not just with pen,
but with a heart tirelessly sharing its stories.
“Happy Birthday to Prof. Harris Efendi Thahar”
Padang, West Sumatra, Indonesia,
January 4th, 2025
*The original title of the poem in Indonesian languange is “Harris Effendi Thahar: Menulis Dengan Pena dan Hati”.
Note
Leni Marlina is an active member of the Indonesian Writers Association (SATU PENA) in West Sumatra. She is also a member of the International Poetry and Literary Writers Community (ACC) in Shanghai, where she serves as the Indonesian Poetry Ambassador for the ACC Shanghai Huifeng International Literary Association. Additionally, she has been involved with the Victoria Writers Association in Australia.
Since 2006, she has served as a lecturer and assistant professor in the English Language and Literature Program at the Faculty of Languages and Arts, Universitas Negeri Padang.
Leni is also the founder and leader of several digital communities focused on literature, education, and social issues, including:
1. World Children’s Literature Community (WCLC): https://shorturl.at/acFv1
2. Poetry-Pen International Community
3. PPIPM (Pondok Puisi Inspirasi Masyarakat), 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
5. Linguistic Talk Community
6. Literature Talk Community
7. Translation Practice Community
