“Fire and Germs”: Poetry Collection by Leni Marlina (PPIPM-Indonesia, Poetry-Pen IC, Satu Pena, Kreator Era AI, FSM, ACC SHILA)

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Fire and Germs

Poem by Leni Marlina

<1>

Beneath the earth’s shadowed stillness,
the germs lurk, unseen travelers,
devouring forgotten pulses of life—
like mites upon the skin of night,
slipping, biting, without a sound.

What lies invisible
is the mark of wounds festering,
like fungi clinging to a coral stone—
silent yet consuming,
gnawing at bones and blood,
creeping through the nauseating quiet.
These germs thrive in poisoned shadows,
where lies slumber undisturbed.

<2>

“Where has the earth’s lifeblood gone?”
The germs ask the fractured soil,
the abandoned paths,
the darkened seas,
whose waves carry whispers of dread,
while ships drift to faraway voids,
dragging truths to unreachable depths.

“We live in this venom,” they say,
“trapped in extinguished flames.”
The soil swallows their words,
vomiting hungry, thirsty germs,
as light vanishes into thick shadows—
everything cloaked in darkness.

Shall we live amidst these devouring germs,
digging deeper,
seeking the fragments of ourselves long lost?
Or shall we become fire,
spreading through the night’s void,
igniting the lies, burning through the deceit?
A fire that defies, a fire bold enough
to touch the fractured sky.
The germs will burst, their poison unleashed,
but the fire will blaze until all is ash.

<3>

Where have the hands that stole our soil gone?
Where are the souls sold for gold?
The germs steal more than what is seen,
robbing eyes lulled into slumber.
Now we face a choice:
remain trapped in their web,
or become flames to pierce the darkness?
For in these shadows,
only fire can awaken the blind.

If we remain silent, we become the germs—
forgotten, hidden, buried deeper still.
But if we burn—
we will illuminate every darkened corner,
destroying the poison pulsing through our veins,
and write a new history,
restoring the forgotten,
welcoming the silenced back into the light.

Padang, West Sumatra
Indonesia, 2023

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Darkness and Light

Poem by Leni Marlina

The sky splits open like a bleeding wound,
pouring rust-scented night,
where stars are shards of broken glass,
piercing the withered skin of evening.
Shadows crawl upon silent walls,
revealing faces long erased.

Beneath the earth, roots whisper,
spilling tales from silent mouths,
sipping the tears petrified
in the shattered bones of the earth.
Yet beneath these fractures,
a spark lies hidden,
a whisper igniting the wind,
breathing life into the final heartbeat.

Shall we become mere ash
within this maze without doors,
or the blaze defying the storm?
In this darkness, light is a sword,
slicing through every lie,
leaving embers to forge a new world—
where justice no longer hides in shadows.

Padang, West Sumatra
Indonesia, 2023

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Blood Ensnared

Poem by Leni Marlina

Blood flows like serpents,
circling the labyrinth of decay,
biting into the flesh of hope,
injecting the venom of silence.
Bones rise like blackened towers,
where they hang history
on buried, brittle pages.

The earth trembles with cracking sounds,
splitting beneath hollow steps.
Their trails carve fresh voids,
gaping like mouths that never tire.
But within this blood,
an ember waits to erupt,
a mountain holding its breath,
ready to spew molten truth.

If we keep circling this path,
we become shadows without bodies.
Yet if we seize this ember,
we will etch a world anew—
with ink of freedom,
voicing truths,
burning deceit and treachery
to ash that the earth can finally discard.

Padang, West Sumatra
Indonesia, 2023

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Forgotten Faces

Poem by Leni Marlina

Our faces fade in the mirror of time,
buried beneath the ruins of history,
where dust replaces breath
and charcoal becomes the crown.
They dig into us,
like rats clawing the heart of the earth,
turning spirit into cold bone.

Yet the shadows of these faces endure,
reflected in pools of poison
that seep from the city’s wounds.
Invisible hands carve their names
into our skin,
leaving marks that will not fade.

The forgotten face is fire,
burning beneath the ash of memory.
It waits, coiled,
like a serpent in the womb of night,
ready to strike and shred the veils of deceit.
We are that face,
and time is ours to ignite.

Padang, West Sumatra
Indonesia, 2023

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The Weeping Sky

Poem by Leni Marlina

The sky stitches its wounds with barbed wire,
its tears falling as bullets,
piercing the pitted earth,
where prayers splinter into shards of glass
and hope sinks into the swamp’s depths.
Each drop is venom,
feeding the roots of dying trees,
spreading decay to every corner.

The earth trembles in reply,
spewing black stones
that dance beneath the rain of blood.
What remains of this world,
but shadows devouring light,
leaving a night without end?

Yet the weeping sky
is a call to rise,
to burn every rotten root
with flames that reach the marrow.
We are not mere witnesses,
but keepers of the fire,
reaching for the wounded sky with bloodied hands,
rewriting the earth’s destiny
with every spark we create.

Padang, West Sumatra
Indonesia, 2023

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About the Poetry Collection and Poet

This poetry collection was originally written by Leni Marlina in 2023 and revised for publication in 2025 through digital media.

Leni Marlina is an active member of the Indonesian Writers Association (SATU PENA) in West Sumatra since its establishment in 2022. She is also a member of the ACC Shanghai Huifeng International Literary Association, where she serves as Indonesia’s Poetry Ambassador. An educator since 2006, she lectures in English Literature at Universitas Negeri Padang, Indonesia.

Leni founded and leads various digital communities focusing on language, literature, literacy, 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)