“Abrar Yusra and the Ocean of Letters”: A Poetry Collection by Leni Marlina (PPIPM-Indonesia, Poetry-Pen IC, Indonesian Writer of Satu Pena Sumbar, Indonesian Creator of AI Era, FSM, ACC SHILA)
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Abrar Yusra and The Ocean of Letters
A Poem by Leni Marlina
(PPIPM-Indonesia, Poetry-Pen IC, Indonesian Writer of Satu Pena Sumbar, Indonesian Creator of AI Era, FSM, ACC SHILA)
In Lawang Matur, land of Minang’s breath,
where hills arch like whispered prayers,
the wind traced your first syllables,
the rain knocked with longing hands.
You, Abrar Yusra,
rose from soil steeped in stories,
where courage plowed the fields of words,
where silence was never an inheritance.
Nineteen forty-three—your first cry carved the dawn,
history inked your name upon the earth’s chest.
Before pen kissed paper,
blood had already signed its fate.
You sailed through time with open eyes,
at IKIP Padang, you swam the sea of letters,
your pen, the prow that split the tide,
refusing to drift into silence.
Your name, a flame in the ink of ages,
etched in Haluan, Singgalang, Kompas.
In Tanah Ombak, your voice roared,
your words flashed like lightning,
thundered like a storm,
rattling the bones of indifference.
You were not just a journalist—
you were the pulse of truth,
writing with veins,
breathing through ink.
On the pages of history,
you wove the lives of legends,
etched Rosihan Anwar’s legacy,
so time could not erase it.
Your poetry was not mere verse,
but thunder echoing in the ribs of night,
a prayer slipping into the veins of longing,
a fire sparking the quiet core of men’s hearts.
But fate is a tide no hand can hold—
in 2015, the call of heaven reached you,
yet your words remain, undrowned,
their shadows stretching long
on the walls of time.
O guardian of the written flame,
Abrar Yusra,
you are more than a name,
you are wind that will not still,
light that will not dim,
your letters will not sink,
your fire will not fade.
FBS Universitas Negeri Padang,
West Sumatra, INDONESIA
January, 2025
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The Unfading Legacy of Letters
A Poem by Leni Marlina
(PPIPM-Indonesia, Poetry-Pen IC, Indonesian Writer of Satu Pena Sumbar, Indonesian Creator of AI Era, FSM, ACC SHILA)
Abrar Yusra,
you are not a name etched on stone,
you are the river that never dries,
seeping into the roots of time.
Your ink was fire,
your words, embers cast to the wind—
so the world would burn with meaning.
Can a pen perish
when its ink has merged
with the marrow of history?
Can a poet fade
if his verses still
breathe in the lungs of time?
The sky has swallowed voices before,
yet your name still shimmers
at the lip of each dawn,
your echoes still pulse
through the veins of an unfinished era.
Who truly vanishes?
A body surrendered to the earth,
or a light unyielding to the dark?
There is no death for those
who carve their words into the wind,
no silence for those
who forge their voices into steel.
In the letters you left behind,
there are hands
still carrying the flame.
O you who read this,
lift your eyes between these quiet pages,
and you will find
Abrar Yusra—
not merely a man,
but a fire that still
illuminates his time.
FBS Universitas Negeri Padang,
West Sumatra, INDONESIA
January, 2025
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Journalist and Poet
A Poem by Leni Marlina
(PPIPM-Indonesia, Poetry-Pen IC, Indonesian Writer of Satu Pena Sumbar, Indonesian Creator of AI Era, FSM, ACC SHILA)
Abrar Yusra,
Journalist, Poet, Novelist—
from the earth of Minang, you rose,
a banner of letters unfurling in the winds of exile.
Across foreign shores,
you gathered voices,
stitched stories into the fabric of time.
You were the eyes that watched the age,
the feet that walked where history stirred,
the hands that traced the nation’s wounds,
the lips that wove poetry from sorrow and song.
Abrar Yusra,
Chronicler, Seeker, Storyteller—
your words were birds taking flight,
scattering in every direction,
echoing in the heart of time.
Now, your journey has reached its dusk,
but your footprints remain, unfading.
For every letter you planted has become a home,
a sanctuary for those
who seek meaning in the ruins of silence.
FBS Universitas Negeri Padang,
West Sumatra, INDONESIA
January, 2025
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The Tremor in The World’s Silence
A Poem by Leni Marlina
(PPIPM-Indonesia, Poetry-Pen IC, Indonesian Writer of Satu Pena Sumbar, Indonesian Creator of AI Era, FSM, ACC SHILA)
Words are fire,
but silence is the breath that feeds them.
You, Abrar Yusra,
were not just a name in ink—
you were the tremor
that shook the world’s silence.
Have you ever seen
a river refuse to run?
Have you ever felt
the wind deny its own course?
Such was the pen
in your grasp—
never still,
never subdued.
Books are not tombs for words,
they are open windows,
where light spills
and wind sings.
You did not write to be remembered,
you wrote because the world
was too quiet,
because the waves
were waiting for movement.
So even if the world forgets to read,
you will still speak in silence,
for words of truth
do not die,
for fire does not sleep.
And in every newsprint left behind,
in every poem waiting in the dust of time,
you are still there—
not in ink,
not in paper,
but in the endless motion
of the universe.
FBS Universitas Negeri Padang,
West Sumatra, INDONESIA
January, 2025
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Leni Marlina has been an active member of the Indonesian Writers Association (SATU PENA) West Sumatra branch since its establishment in 2022, as well as the Indonesian AI Era Creators Community. She is also an active member of the International Poetry and Literary Writers Community (ACC) in Shanghai and, since 2024, has served as Indonesia’s Poetry Ambassador for the ACC Shanghai Huifeng International Literary Association. Leni was previously involved with Victoria’s Writers Association in Australia. Since 2006, she has been a lecturer at the English Language and Literature Department, Faculty of Languages and Arts, Universitas Negeri Padang.
Leni has also founded and led several digital-based communities and initiatives focusing on literature, language, education, and social outreach, including:
1. World Children’s Literature Community (WCLC): https://shorturl.at/acFv1
2. Poetry-Pen International Community
3. PPIPM (Pondok Puisi Inspirasi Pemikiran Masyarakat)-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
5. Linguistic Talk Community
6. Literature Talk Community
7. Translation Practice Community
8. English Languange Learning, Literacy, Literary Community (EL4C)
