BIAK – PAPUA: THE SKY’S EYELID: Poetry Collection by Leni Marlina (PPIPM-Indonesia, Poetry-Pen IC, Indonesian Writer of Satu Pena, KEAI, Literacy Community, ASM, ACC SHILA)

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BIAK – PAPUA: THE SKY’S EYELID

Poem by Leni Marlina

[PPIPM-Indonesia, Poetry-Pen IC, Indonesian Writer of Satu Pena, KEAI, Literacy Community, ASM, ACC SHILA]
☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

Biak is no mere island—
but the sky’s gentle eyelid, blinking in slow reverence,
spilling light into the womb of the earth,
where roots hum prayers in the hush of soil.

It does not cry aloud,
yet winds weave whispers into verses—
etched on the green spine of leaves.
Its forests, its cliffs—scriptures of breath—
unread until we set ourselves aside,
and make peace with what lives.

Padang, West Sumatra, INDONESIA, 2025

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Biak Numfor – Papua: In the Belly of Biak’s Silence

Poem by Leni Marlina
(INDONESIA)

[PPIPM-Indonesia, Poetry-Pen IC, Indonesian Writer of Satu Pena, KEAI, Literacy Community, ASM, ACC SHILA]
☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

Biak Numfor is no mere edge of the map—
it is the womb of time,
cradling wounds like lullabies,
birthing patience from the stones that sip the tide.

Each step we take
leaves not footprints, but echoes—
a voice that walks long after
the body has turned to air.

Here, history is not a timeline
but a breath thick with memory,
held fast in the fisherman’s net,
a silent poem daring to speak
of peace, of humankind.

Padang, West Sumatra, INDONESIA, 2025

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The Sea: Chest of Biak Numfor – Papua

Poem by Leni Marlina

[PPIPM-Indonesia, Poetry-Pen IC, Indonesian Writer of Satu Pena, KEAI, Literacy Community, ASM, ACC SHILA]
☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

The sea bears no bitterness—
she turns rage into coral gardens,
scars into sanctuaries,
teaching us that pain, too,
can be a cradle.

Beneath the waves,
swim names never spoken aloud,
yet they rise—
steppingstones for those
who seek peace without losing
the thread of their belonging.

Padang, West Sumatra, INDONESIA, 2025

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Biak Numfor – Papua and the Music of Nature

Poem by Leni Marlina

[PPIPM-Indonesia, Poetry-Pen IC, Indonesian Writer of Satu Pena, KEAI, Literacy Community, ASM, ACC SHILA]
☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

Can you imagine—
a song with no instrument,
no player,
only the island itself
echoing like a chant in the sky’s ear?

Here in Biak Numfor,
where sago trees hum and clouds descend,
poems are not written—
they sprout like mushrooms
in the forest’s damp breath,
whispering:
beauty is born where ego never walks.

Padang, West Sumatra, INDONESIA, 2025

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The Chest of Biak Numfor – Papua, Our Own Chest

Poem by Leni Marlina
(INDONESIA)

[PPIPM-Indonesia, Poetry-Pen IC, Indonesian Writer of Satu Pena, KEAI, Literacy Community, ASM, ACC SHILA]
☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

In Biak Numfor,
we learn to become water—
to seep through the cracks of time,
not to break,
but to cradle.

Biak teaches endurance
not with battle,
but in the stillness of waiting
for a dawn
that might never come.

Padang, West Sumatra, INDONESIA, 2025

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Not Just a Cluster of Islands

Poem by Leni Marlina
(INDONESIA)

[PPIPM-Indonesia, Poetry-Pen IC, Indonesian Writer of Satu Pena, KEAI, Literacy Community, ASM, ACC SHILA]
☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

Biak Numfor is not a cluster of islands—
it is silence carved in coral,
sky trembling with its first longing.

The ancestors do not walk here—
they float in the hush between hours,
etching their names in the breath of stones,
heard now in the pulse of the waves.

Ask not where the treasure lies—
ask instead:
for whom does the wind compose
poems on unmoving branches?

Padang, West Sumatra, INDONESIA, 2025

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Samares and Anggopi in Papua

Poem by Leni Marlina
(INDONESIA)

[PPIPM-Indonesia, Poetry-Pen IC, Indonesian Writer of Satu Pena, KEAI, Literacy Community, ASM, ACC SHILA]
☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

On the shores of Samares and Anggopi,
trees bloom not for the seasons,
but for water’s vow to the roots—
which never ask more than life itself.

The bird of paradise does not sing to be seen,
but to remind us
that the truest beauty
has no need for applause.

Love is like this too—
not a proclamation,
but a presence
that remains even when forgotten.

Padang, West Sumatra, INDONESIA, 2025

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Gold Beneath the Leaves

Poem by Leni Marlina
(INDONESIA)

[PPIPM-Indonesia, Poetry-Pen IC, Indonesian Writer of Satu Pena, KEAI, Literacy Community, ASM, ACC SHILA]
☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

Biak Numfor—gold beneath the leaves,
a pearl within stone’s womb—
not made to be sold,
but to test the soul:

Can you behold without taking?
Hold without harm?
Love without claim?

Biak does not open
to those who arrive with maps—
but to those who come
with open palms
and eyes soft enough to weep.

Padang, West Sumatra, INDONESIA, 2025

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Biak Numfor, Let Me Love You

Poem by Leni Marlina
(INDONESIA)

[PPIPM-Indonesia, Poetry-Pen IC, Indonesian Writer of Satu Pena, KEAI, Literacy Community, ASM, ACC SHILA]
☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

Let me love you, Biak Numfor,
as the sun loves dawn—
not just with light,
but with rising devotion
that asks for nothing.

You are not a dot on a map—
you are the breath of ancestors,
reborn in the wave’s hush,
in the mist’s soft descent,
in the paradise bird’s hymn—
a song not of conquest,
but of kinship.

I tread your body
like the last line of an unfinished poem,
kissing coral altars
where sea-prayers are kept,
among casuarina shadows
that carry wind older than words.

You are a poem
written in falling light,
in rain that comes not to flood,
but to caress,
to cleanse without wound.

Let me love you
as roots love earth—
unseen, but holding fast,
never forcing,
only becoming.

With hands that carry no tools,
but a language that listens—
with eyes that do not measure,
but rest in reverence,
let me love you
with the silence that heals,
with the patience
of those who know
what beauty means to belong.

Padang, West Sumatra, INDONESIA, 2025

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My Love in Biak Numfor – Papua

Poem by Leni Marlina
(INDONESIA)

[PPIPM-Indonesia, Poetry-Pen IC, Indonesian Writer of Satu Pena, KEAI, Literacy Community, ASM, ACC SHILA]
☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

Biak Numfor—
a land that speaks with silence,
its sea the pulse
in Earth’s ancient chest,
its secrets drifting
like wordless love.

Time pauses here—
its trace not on clocks,
but in longing,
like roots that deepen
without being seen,
yet bind the world.

Each gust of wind
whispers only to souls
that have surrendered.

Here, we learn to love
without owning,
to walk without purpose,
just to feel each step
as a prayer.

Silence is the world’s truest voice—
and in this quiet,
Biak teaches us:
love is not meant
to be understood,
only felt—
like the sky,
never asking,
yet always giving.

Padang, West Sumatra, INDONESIA, 2025
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Leni Marlina stands as a luminous voice in contemporary Indonesian literature—an accomplished poet, writer, and academic whose work transcends borders, languages, and generations. Deeply rooted in the cultural soul of West Sumatra, she is an active member of the Indonesian Writers Association, SATU PENA – West Sumatra, since its inception in 2022 under the leadership of renowned writer Sastri Bakry.

In recognition of her outstanding literary achievements, Leni was honored as “Outstanding Writer of the Year 2025” by SATU PENA – West Sumatra. The prestigious award was presented during the Gala Dinner of the International Minangkabau Literacy Festival (IMLF-3), held from May 8 to 12, 2025—an event that celebrates the vibrancy and intellectual richness of regional and global literatures.

Leni’s literary presence extends internationally. She is a distinguished member of the ACC Shanghai Huifeng International Literary Association (lead by Anna Keiko), where she serves with honor as the Poetry Ambassador of Indonesia & the chief representative of poetry in Asia for the ACC Ambassadorial Group. Her global literary engagements include previous involvement with the Victorian Writers Association in Australia, further underscoring her cross-cultural literary influence.

Since 2006, Leni has devoted herself to education as a lecturer in the Department of English Language and Literature, Faculty of Languages and Arts, Universitas Negeri Padang in West Sumatra – INDONESIA. In the academic sphere, she bridges creative writing and critical inquiry, cultivating future writers and thinkers through an integrative and humanistic pedagogical approach.

A visionary leader in digital and community-based literary activism, Leni has founded and led numerous initiatives that champion language, literature, literacy, and social consciousness such. Her platforms serve as sanctuaries for expression, empowerment, and global dialogue. Among these are:

1. World Children’s Literature Community (WCLC). https://shorturl.at/acFv1

2. Poetry-Pen International Community (PPIC)
3. PPIPM-Indonesia (Pondok Puisi Inspirasi Pemikiran 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 (Ling-TC)
6. Literature Talk Community (Littalk-C)
7. Translation Practice Community (Trans-PC)
8. English Language Learning, Literacy, and Literary Community (EL4C)

Leni Marlina’s oeuvre is a testament to the transformative power of words—to heal, to awaken, and to inspire. Through her poetry, prose, and educational work, she continues to affirm the role of literature as both mirror and compass of humanity, bridging tradition with innovation, the local with the global.

Note:
The Indonesian version of the poem can be accessed for public by clicking the official link below: https://suaraanaknegerinews.com/biak-papua-kelopak-mata-langit-kumpulan-puisi-leni-marlina-ppipm-indonesia-satu-pena-keai-ppic-asm-penyala-literasi-acc-shila/