(Inspired by Anna Keiko’s Painting)
Poem by
Ramli Djafar (Xie Zhongli)
Indonesian-English Translator: Leni Marlina
A tide of souls, lost in despair,
dissolving into the abyss—
drowned in the hollows of the heart,
swept into the silence of the unseen.
Restlessness,
disillusion,
woven into the fabric of failure,
cast away,
and cast again,
forgotten by time itself.
Day by day,
they slip deeper,
a descent with no hands left to hold.
Yet—
from the depths, the resolute rise,
carving tomorrows from the stone of sorrow,
bathed in light,
gleaming against the dusk.
Look,
see beyond the surface,
not with the eye, nor with the mind,
but with the pulse that beats beneath your ribs.
The tides of life break upon all that exists,
etching circles of resilience,
whispering triumph into the wind.
Once, shadows were nameless—
frail, fleeting, forgotten.
Now, they awaken,
shaping the unshakable,
forging truths that will not fade.
Gone is the silence,
banished is the void.
Shadows have unraveled,
woven anew into a ring of meaning. (*)
Padang, West Sumatra, Indonesia, March 16th, 2025
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Both of the poet (Ramli Djafar) and translator (Leni Marlina) are active in some writing and literary communities: (1) Indonesian Writers Association of SATU PENA branch Padang, West Sumatra Province – Indonesia; (2) Poetry Community of Indonesiam Society’s Inspiration: PPIPM-Indonesia: (3) ACC SHILA (Shanghai Huingfey International Literary Association), and (4) Poetry-Pen International Community.
Furthermore, the translator- Leni Marlina is the ACC Indonesian Poetry Ambassador for ACC Shanghai Huifeng International Literary Association. In addition, she has been a lecturer at English Languange and Literature Study Program, Faculty of Languanges and Arts, Universitas Negeri Padang. Furthermore, Leni is the founder and head of of PPIPM-Indonesia, 2) Poetry-Pen International Community; 3) Translation Practice Community.
