With open heart I reach past smiles contrived
To venture past the void of hearts unknown
To pierce into the place where lives are lived
To risk unproven friendships overthrown
My olive branch not overtly dismissed
But glanced aside with mannerly resist.
#439 Tentang Dentum Guruh dan Deru Tangis
Dentum guruh di langit kelam
Tanda bumi bakal terhujan
Kelam lagi hati yang suram
Deru tangis tiada tertahan
#437 On Listening Intently to Your Own Self
Away from the void
March to the drumbeat of your
Will to be alive.
#434 On My List of 100 Things to be Grateful For in My Life
A hundred ways I'm grateful for this Life
A hundred times I'm blessed by God above
Within the daily din of baying strife
I've armed my soul with Kindness and with Love
With pen and paper, in my solitude
I count my blessings with deep gratitude.
#433 On Echoes of Friendships Past
Our friendships echo loud through muddled Time
And even in the darkest night, alone
The memories come alive in gentle rhyme
For all our sins, these warm ties do atone
And even though our lives now barely meet
I treasure this: no lies, no bald conceit.
#431 Tentang Malam Lara
Malam yang gelap
Mengandung duka lara
Yang tak terungkap.
#429 Tentang Sang Pekerja Asing di Klinik Kucing
Dua tangannya berurat kuat
Merangkul erat sang kucing manja
Senyum redup pada wajah kesat
Menguntum rahman pada binarnya
Mata yang sering lama terkusam
Dulu pudar, kini bercahaya
Pada hidup yang lama terkelam
Kini sinar tenang gah tersulam.
#426 On Curses
I curse you.
I curse you for the smearing of our good names.
For your insinuations.
For your callous determination, to destroy our good works.
For your cowardice, in hiding behind the veil of power
to push us off the precipice.
I curse you, in this blessed month of Ramadan.
May your aims all go awry.
May your works crumble into ash.
May your evil doings find their way back to you,
transmuted into evils committed unto you.
May the miseries you inflict on others,
be heaped unto you in series a millionfold.
I curse you, and may God curse you too.
#425 Tentang Hari Raya Yang Bakal Menjelma
Hari Raya bakal menjelma
Manis senyum makin melebar
Buang duka buanglah lara
Moga bahgia meranum mekar.
#422 Tentang Hari-Hari Yang Meluntur
Satu persatu
Hari hari berlalu
Aku terluntur.