"THE FINAL HARBOUR": A Duet Collection of Spiritual and Existential Poems by Indonesian Poets: Leni Marlina and Ramli Djafar - Inspired by the Paintings of Poet Anna Keiko (China)

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THE INVISIBLE BEGINNING

Inspired by the Paintings of Anna Keiko (China)

Leni Marlina, a writer, poet, and lecturer at the Faculty of Languages and Arts, Universitas Negeri Padang, Indonesia; Founder and Chair of PPIPM-Indonesia and Poetry-Pen International Community; Member of ACC Shanghai Huifeng International Literary Association and Satu Pena-West Sumatra. Image Source: suaraanaknegerinews.com.

A Poem by Leni Marlina

[PPIPM-Indonesia, Poetry-Pen International Community, Indonesian Writer of Satu Pena, Indonesian Creator of AI Era, Indonesian Literacy Community, FSM, ACC SHILA]
★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Everything began
not from a word, nor from a voice,
but from silence—
which was created first
before all skies and waters.

There,
poetry was not yet poetry,
but already a prayer
sneaking into bones,
and quivering as longing
for the All-Knowing One.

No ink was spilled,
yet sentences were written
on invisible pages
we now call fate.

So walk,
you who read—
not with your feet,
but with your soul
rising from the harbour of awareness.

For each word on this page
is a mast,
each stanza a wave,
and each pause His calling.

Padang, West Sumatra, INDONESIA, 2025

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SILENT SHIPS

Anna Keiko, a distinguished poet and talented painter from China, whose works have gained widespread international recognition, is the President of ACC SHILA (Shanghai Huifeng International Literary Association). Image Source: Anna K. via Leni M.

Inspired by the Paintings of Anna Keiko (China)

A Poem by Leni Marlina

The wind never truly comes,
it only passes like a promise
forgotten by the sky upon the sea.
At this harbour,
silence grows from roots of light.

Ships stand still,
bearing secrets that never depart.
Each wave
is a word devoured by time.

A harbour is not merely a place,
but a chest
where humans lean upon the unseen—
a pause between returning
and surrender.

Padang, West Sumatra, INDONESIA, 2025

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HARBOUR

Inspired by the Paintings of Anna Keiko (China)

A Poem by Ramli Djafar (Xie Zhongli)

[PPIPM-Indonesia, Poetry-Pen International Community, Indonesian Writer of Satu Pena, Indonesian Creator of AI Era, ACC SHILA]

Translator (Indonesian-English):
Leni Marlina
★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Blue clouds paint the sky,
blending with white hues,
dancing with joy
alongside a slow, gentle wind.

Sunlight pours its rays,
filling every space,
a profound stillness felt,
silence cloaks the earth’s face.

Nature still in silence,
as though in meditation,
immersed in time that flows.

A large ship moors at the harbour,
motionless,
now and then the water stirs—
a song of longing from the fisherman
awaiting his hour to sail,
to seek life’s sustenance.

The harbour remains quiet,
far from the crowd,
nature’s charm grows stronger,
a pure harmony.

The sea lies calm,
like a painted canvas,
mirroring the ship at the harbour,
reflecting all light—
a spectrum of colours,
a perfect beauty.

The harbour stands firm,
resisting nature’s strike,
bearing every burden.

The harbour—
the final port before sailing,
holding the tales of humankind.

Padang, West Sumatra, INDONESIA, April 5th, 2025

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Ramli Djafar is an active member of PPIPM-Indonesia, Indonesian writer of SATU PENA West Sumatra, Indonesian Creator of AI Era of West Sumatra. He is also a member of the ACC Shanghai Huifeng International Literary Association and Poetry-Pen International Community. Some of his poems have been published in collections and translated into English and Chinese in the ACC SHILA international poetry journal.

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THE CHILD LEFT BY THE WAVES

Inspired by the Paintings of Anna Keiko (China)

A Poem by Leni Marlina

That harbour was born of a body
never brought into the world—
like a prayer held in the sky,
never falling
for Earth was too busy with her own fate.

I sit on the reef,
weaving secrets from mist,
talking to the waves
that stole my father’s name
from the book of life.

That ship’s shadow—
none other than mine,
searching for the ocean in my chest
and the sky on a prayer rug
scattered by time.

Lord,
why entrust silence
to children who know no way?
Why turn the waves into messages
that never arrive?

But I know,
these tides
are letters from Your Pen,
teaching me to read
the meaning of loss.

Behind ebb and flow,
You hide wisdom,
like pearls
in the deep sea.

And I,
a child left by the waves,
still wait
for Your destiny
to come as an embrace.

Padang, West Sumatra, INDONESIA, 2025

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THE LAST SHIP TO LIGHT

Inspired by the Paintings of Anna Keiko (China)

A Poem by Leni Marlina

God,
there’s a ship within my chest
that never truly departs—
it waits for the wind from Your breath,
it yearns for Your voice
in every rustling wave.

This sea is vast,
but not as vast as Your mercy.
This sky is high,
but not as high as the love You planted
in the dust of a servant.

I’ve traded my world entire
for a single light
that calls from afar,
like a mother’s whisper
of paradise
between my sleep and wake.

The harbour is no longer the end,
not where I finish—
but where I return
as a soul testifying,
as light You return
to its origin.

Let the world roar
with sinking ships,
my boat is small,
but my heart brims with Your Name.

I know,
this is not a voyage across,
but a return within—
to You,
never far
even when I lose all bearings.

Padang, West Sumatra, INDONESIA, 2025

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THE FINAL HARBOUR

Inspired by the Paintings of Anna Keiko (China)

A Poem by Leni Marlina

We have written the seas,
built boats
from wounds and prayers,
accompanied the wind
with patience and tears.

Yet in the end,
it’s not the sea that brings us home,
nor the ship that saves us,
but His hand—
unseen,
yet always holding us
through every loss.

Lord,
if all harbours collapse,
if no direction remains,
let You alone
be the compass
within our hearts.

For however far our poems
may voyage,
You are the final harbour
that never sinks.

And to You,
we entrust
every word
we never had time to say
in our lives.

Padang, West Sumatra, INDONESIA, 2025

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Leni Marlina is a writer, poet, and academic born in Baso, Agam Regency, residing in Padang, West Sumatra. She has been an active member of the Indonesian Writers Association, SATU PENA West Sumatra Chapter, since its founding in 2022. She is also an active member of the ACC International Literary Association in Shanghai and has been entrusted as Indonesia’s Poetry Ambassador for the ACC Shanghai Huifeng International Literary Association. Leni was previously involved with the Victoria’s Writer Association in Australia. Since 2006, she has served as a lecturer at the Department of English Language and Literature, Faculty of Languages and Arts, Universitas Negeri Padang.

Beyond campus, she works as an editor for Suaraanaknegeri.com and contributes to several other Indonesian online media outlets.

Leni Marlina also founded and leads digital communities and initiatives focused on language, literature, literacy, and social empowerment, including:

1. World Children’s Literature Community (WCLC): https://shorturl.at/acFv1
2. Poetry-Pen International Community
3. PPIPM (Pondok Puisi Inspirasi Pemikiran Masyarakat)-Indonesia, 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)