Christmas morning, and
The birds are chirping softly
Calling down His Grace.
Tentang Jeritan Yang Terlumat
Dalam jiwa penuh jerangkung
Trauma lama belum terubat
Dalam hati menjerit raung
Mulut diam terkunci lumat.
On The Sin of Pride
I keep a watchful eye now
For age-old sin of Pride
(We hardly use that word now
That word - Sin! - we deride
It’s very nature, quaint now
Yet one more Truth denied
And Virtue, set aside now
Lo, Freedom’s deified!)
Yes, Pride is all around now
Its seeds spread far and wide
It grows in every heart now
It blooms, and needs not hide
Pride grows with zest and verve now
Mulched with our deadened eyes
Black mirrors in our hands now
Pride’s gardens multiplied
Alas, this is the way now
Our lives suffused with Pride
The original Sin now
Prized, what was once decried
One wonders for how long now
We’ll let desires decide
Will we break free of Pride now
Or endlessly abide?
On Beseeching
Every kiss of wave to beach
A silent prayer to beseech:
Glory be to God!
Glory be to God!
Glory be to God!
Tentang Kepulangan ke Andaman
Desir pantai mengubat rawan
Bayu laut memuput kasih
Pulang tuan kami alukan
Bagai gagang alukan sirih
Langit biru luas terbentang
Redup alam dilindung awan
Lama sudah tuan berdagang
Pulang tuan kami rayakan.
On This Beach
Amidst the bleating of the cicadas
And the purring of the waves
I felt the sudden urge
To make ablution
And pray to Him on the sands of this beach.
On Peace (None Save in Him)
Each futile attempt
Teaches me - there is truly
No peace save in Him.
Tentang Ketemuan
Siapa sangka dari sejuta Insan yang ada di bumi Kita harus ketemu jua Dua jiwa, hati terpatri. Dari awal engkau ragui Apa erti hidup bersama Syak wasangka kita lunturi Yakin hati berjalin cinta Apa maksud hidup berliku Sunyi jiwa terpadam kini Shair hidup memuji kamu Redup hati damai abadi.
On Language
Our Language is our fam’ly tree
The ties that build affinity
With words traversing waves of thought
The gap between us fades to naught
Out of the kiln, the words that build
Tribes, cities, armies, courts and guilds
Cementing ties of human hearts
Foundation for the sciences, arts
Thus Language forms the grounding strong
For human life, its wax and throng
To depths of seas and heights of space
Its thrumming drives the human race
Alas its boon hides darker tones
For language also marks the zones
Between a commonwealth of us
Against the others we distrust
Without a common lingual sphere
Communities cannot cohere
From babel curse of estranged tongues
Flows mistrust and committed wrongs
So you may think ‘tis insensate
For nations to compel, dictate
One Language to unite them all
Must we be caged in one tongue's thrall?
Such is the fate of nations blessed
With populace diverse, now pressed
Into each other's common fate
Be it with joy or teeth agrate
This babel curse need not be rued
Variety is a gift imbued
Unto those nations such as ours
Rejoicing in our hundred flowers
A common language bridges, brings
The people all together, wings
Of peace take flight in concert when
Our hearts unite in common ken
And that one speech need not efface
The shared melange of varied race
That makes up nations on this earth
Where each one owns their human worth
So let us celebrate, rejoice
Humanity in one shared voice
With pride our anthem loudly sung
In warp and weft of one shared tongue.
On Waking Up
Some fine morning You will wake up Like from a dream And realise that All the trappings of your life That nice condo The fast cars The fancy things Never really mattered And what you thought was important That big job That bold business card The numbers you had to hit They were mere details Necessary perhaps, at some point But never truly sufficient And what really mattered was How you were loved How you loved in return The blessings you had And how you showed gratitude for those blessings I pray we wake up soon I pray for me, and for you.