“A Message Floating on the Sea”: The Selected Poetry Collection (PPIPM-Indonesia, Poetry-Pen IC, Indonesian Writers of Satu Pena, Indonesian Creators of AI Era)
Ilustrasi "Pesan Yang Terapung di Laut": Kumpulan Puisi Pilihan (PPIPM-Indonesia, Poetry-Pen IC, Satu Pena, Kreator Era AI). Sumber Gambar: Starcom Indonesia's Artworks No. 925-90 (Assisted by AI).
/1/
A Message Floating on the Sea
Poem by Leni Marlina
[PPIPM-Indonesia, Poetry-Pen IC, Indonesian Writer of Satu Pena, Indonesian Creator of AI Era, FSM, ACC SHILA]
<I>
The sea is not mere water,
nor only salt,
nor just waves.
It is the primal womb,
that does not birth,
but swallows, holds all—
one by one, countless.
The towering masts, the proud ships,
human hands bold enough to claim the wind as servant—
all are but fragments buried
in the deep,
by nameless monsters,
by currents rewriting history
with ink that dissolves,
left unchecked.
<II>
Tonight, the sea does not merely stir—it opens its eyes.
The storm flickers like its eyelid,
and beneath it,
waves writhe,
like a giant serpent awakened by hunger.
It does not roar,
does not warn,
does not reveal the wind’s direction.
Only one sound fills the sky:
the secret language written on the tongue of lightning,
whispered across all corners,
touching every human’s unrest,
shrinking them in the belly of their boats.
<III>
Who do you call now,
O human?
Your tongue once praised wood and steel,
measured the sky with compasses and formulas,
believed the waves were mere rhythm in your journey.
But now,
when waves turn to hungry mouths,
when the wind rips ships like paper,
when stars vanish into darkness,
do you at last remember who holds dominion over this?
The sea does not laugh.
It simply shrugs its wave-like shoulders,
and one by one,
the greedy are swallowed
into a silence deeper than death.
<IV>
And after that?
The sky weaves clouds once more,
the wind roams again,
and the waves return to caress the shore,
like the weary fingers of a giant.
Only one thing remains:
a shard of wood, floating on the sea’s lips at night,
bearing a message:
that humans must learn to be humane.
— Warnambool,
Australia, 2012
———-
Note: The poem’s Indonesian original title is “Pesan Yang Terapung di Laut”.
/2/
The Lost Sovereignty
Poem by Zulkifli Abdy
[PPIPM-Indonesia, Poetry-Pen IC, Indonesian Writer of Satu Pena, Indonesian Creator of AI Era]
Indonesian-English Translator: Leni Marlina
Oh sea,
My companion,
You are our water,
As the island is our land.
You are the current,
caressing gently
the evening shore.
Now, you are swept away,
by reckless waves.
Mother Earth weeps bitterly.
Why do you stay silent?
Fenced in by unknown hands,
And now we stand divided—
You and I, no longer united.
Have you forgotten, or grown senile?
In this rift, you take our sovereignty.
— Banda Aceh, Indonesia January 26th, 2025
————
Note: The poem’s Indonesian original title is “Kedaulatan Yang Hilang”.
/3/
Frozen Foam
Poem by Zulkifli Abdy
[PPIPM-Indonesia, Poetry-Pen IC, Indonesian Writer of Satu Pena, Indonesian Creator of AI Era]
Indonesian-English Translator: Leni Marlina
When the foam upon the sea freezes,
it becomes coral at the shore.
When the conscience turns to stone,
people grow blind to virtue.
Do not let life slip away in vain,
become meaningful to the many.
A heart that is blind knows no shame,
But a heart that is pure, lives in peace.
— Beranda Senja, Aceh, Indonesia,
November 2023
———
Note:
The poem’s Indonesian original title is “Buih-Buih Yang Membeku”.
Born in Jambi, Zulkifli Abdy has lived in Aceh since 1970. A graduate in Communication Studies, he has been writing self-taught since his youth, producing articles and poetry infused with strong literary passion. Writing, for him, is not just an activity but a way to pour out emotions, replacing the pages of a diary.
/4/
The Sea That Devours Names
A Poem by Leni Marlina
[PPIPM-Indonesia, Poetry-Pen IC, Indonesian Writer of Satu Pena, Indonesian Creator of AI Era, FSM, ACC SHILA]
The sea no longer whispers—it swallows voices,
grinds names into foam, scattering them
before they ever touch the shore.
It is not merely water holding wounds,
but a forge where we are tempered,
between ruin and defiance.
Dreams do not sink in silence here—
they are torn apart, tossed, churned in the depths,
until they rise again, sharpened into steel.
Hope, you say, still floats,
but have you ever seen a star stand still in a storm?
Even light must battle to stay unbroken.
Yet we are not driftwood, nameless and lost.
Our arms still carve against the tide,
fighting waves that would erase our footprints.
We strike the sea with open chests,
let brine burn into wounds,
but never let wounds become our gravestones.
We endure—
like fish that tear through the snare,
like boats that refuse to be wrecked,
like sand, betrayed by waves,
but gathering itself again,
rebuilding the shore from every ruin.
Loss is not just an ocean stretching vast,
but a heartbeat pulsing salt through our veins.
This sea knows us more than the land we leave behind,
more honest in its drowning than men are in love.
But we are not mere foam—
we are hands that keep rowing,
we are names that refuse to fade.
_Warnambool
Australia, 2012
—————
Note:
Note: The poem’s Indonesian original title is “Laut Yang Menguyah Nama-Nama”
The poetry collections No. 1 & 4 were originally written bilingually (English-Indonesian) by Leni Marlina purely as a personal hobby and poetry collection in 2012, during her Master of Writing and Literature program (Literary Studies, Creative Writing & Children’s Literature) in Australia, funded by an Indonesian government scholarship. The poems were later revised and began to be published gradually for the first time through digital media in 2025.
Leni has been an active member of Asosiasi Penulis Indonesia (SATU PENA) Sumatera Barat Chapter since its establishment in 2022 and is also involved in Komunitas Kreator Indonesia Era AI. Additionally, she is an active member of the Shanghai-based ACC International Literary Community and, starting in 2024, has been entrusted as Indonesia’s Poetry Ambassador for the ACC Shanghai Huifeng International Literary Association. She has also been involved in the Victoria’s Writer Association in Australia. Since 2006, she has dedicated herself as a lecturer in the Department of English Language and Literature, Faculty of Languages and Arts, Universitas Negeri Padang.
Leni has also founded and led various digital-based communities and initiatives focusing on literature, language, education, and social causes, 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
8. English Languange Learning, Literacy, Literary Community (EL4C)
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