"Scrolls of Longing for You, My Friend": The Poetry Collection by Leni Marlina (PPIPM-Indonesia, Poetry-Pen IC, Indonesia Writer of Satu Pena, Indonesian Creator of AI Era, FSM, ACC SHILA)

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Scrolls of Longing for You, My Friend

Poem by Leni Marlina

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

My friend,
I send you tides of longing
through the wind that slashes the night,
weaving your name into the petals of a wounded flower,
so it may bloom upon your lips
when you whisper a prayer.

Today is your birthday,
and I ask the moon—
does it still cast its glow upon the roads we once traveled?
Or has its light shattered,
like the memories we never found again?

In that distant land,
four seasons turn within the jaws of time,
devouring the traces of your steps.
Autumn’s fallen leaves are letters you left unread,
winter’s first snow—a message frozen before it reached your hands,
spring’s gentle wind—a sigh you let slip away,
and summer…
summer has burned the last embers of our days
until not even ash remains.

My friend,
do you still know the voice of rain in this land?
It knocks upon my window with the same quiet rhythm,
calling your name in endless refrain.
But you do not answer.

Still, I remain,
stitching my longing into the seams of time,
embroidering your name into the breath of the wind,
so that one day,
when the world tires of its endless turning,
it may carry you back—
if only as a shadow
in the sleepless corners of my eyes.

Melbourne, Victoria
Austraoia, 2012

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The Stone’s Loyalty to You, My Friend

Poem by Leni Marlina

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

For you, my friend,
who vanished at the edge of time.

You, my friend,
I have become a stone upon a silent path,
a trembling bone of the earth, frozen in stillness.
I swallowed your footsteps, held them within my veins,
but look—
the cracks in my chest have begun to yawn,
like wounds refusing to heal.

I try to memorize the last imprint of your step,
but the wild wind slaps it into ruin.
I long to clutch you tighter,
to grip your shadow with a stone’s devotion,
but I am only a crumbling ruin,
and this parting is a hammer
that shatters me, piece by piece.

You, my friend,
I remain here,
hardening within this absence.
If one day you return,
you will find me turned to sand,
laughing bitterly in time’s cruel hands,
before the wind carries me away—
forever beyond your grasp.

Melbourne, Victoria
Australia, 2012

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The Wind Knocks on My Window with Longing

Poem by Leni Marlina

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

For you, my friend,
who became a fractured shadow in glass.

You, my friend,
I am now a window,
once reflecting your form upon my chest,
memorizing your gaze like a whispered spell.
But now, you are gone,
and I am nothing but an empty frame,
glass trembling in solitude.

The wind knocks upon me with longing,
its fingers cold as farewell.
I long to open, to let you in,
but I am only a locked window,
and my hinges have rusted with time.

You, my friend,
I am a hungry window,
devouring shadows in the dark,
ripping the air with hollow eyes.
But you do not return.
Now, the glass in my body begins to crack,
until at last, it shatters—
raining the floor with splinters of longing
that can never be pieced together again.

Melbourne, Victoria
Australia, 2012

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The Road That Became a Black River

Poem by Leni Marlina

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

For you, my friend,
carried away by time to the silent edge.

This road once embraced your steps,
but now it has turned into a black river.
Its asphalt melts,
swallowing footprints,
chewing longing into a vortex of night.

I run, chasing after you,
but the asphalt stretches like a long, hungry tongue,
lapping at longing with a searing ache.
I slip into a ravine of silence,
falling into a depthless hush.

You, my friend,
you keep walking,
slicing through time like a blade,
carving absence into every meeting.
While I remain,
tumbling into a quiet that devours
your name—
one letter at a time.

Melbourne, Victoria
Australia, 2012

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A Letter Burned in the Lungs of the Air

Poem by Leni Marlina

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

For you, my friend,
who now drifts like ashes between breaths.

I wrote your name in the smoke,
tucked it deep into the lungs of the wind.
Every letter burned bright red,
consuming my longing into nothingness.

You, my friend,
like the wind, you inhaled deeply,
pulling in all the words I set aflame.
I clenched the ashes of my letter,
but they only scattered,
dissolving before they could reach you.

Now, I speak to emptiness,
calling your name in a silent haze.
The words are gone,
and all that remains is the soot of longing
at the pit of my chest,
until this parting makes peace
with yesterday and tomorrow.

Melbourne, Victoria
Australia, 2012

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The Night That Devours Time’s Body

Poem by Leni Marlina

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

You, my friend,
as if swallowed by darkness,
it has been too long since you returned.

Night has not only stolen your name—
it chews through time’s body with reckless hunger.
Seconds crumble like dry leaves,
crushed in its merciless jaws.

I search for you in the skeleton of the sky,
where stars seem uprooted from their homes.
But tonight, the dark consumes
all that could have led me back to you.

For you, my friend,
I try to weave a voice,
to stitch an echo from the fragments of time.
But all that lingers is an empty hum,
droning through memories flooded with longing.

Melbourne, Victoria
Australia, 2012

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The poetry collection above which consists of poems No. 1- 6 were originally written bilingually (English-Indonesian) by Leni Marlina back in 2012, purely as a personal hobby and private collection. At that time, she was in the middle periode of her Master of Writing and Literature program (focusing on Literary Studies, Creative Writing & Children’s Literature) in Australia, supported by an Indonesian government scholarship. Years later, these poems were revisited, revised, and, for the first time, gradually published through digital platforms in 2025.

Leni has been an active force in the literary world, particularly as a member of the Indonesian Writers Association (SATU PENA, West Sumatra Chapter) since its inception in 2022, and as part of the Indonesian AI Era Creators Community. She is also a dedicated member of the International Poets and Literary Writers Community (ACC) in Shanghai, and in 2024, she was honored with the role of Indonesian Poetry Ambassador for the ACC Shanghai Huifeng International Literary Association. Her literary journey even includes previous involvement with Victoria’s Writer Association in Australia. Since 2006, she has passionately served as a lecturer in the English Language and Literature Study Program at the Faculty of Languages and Arts, Universitas Negeri Padang.

Beyond her academic and literary pursuits, Leni has been instrumental in establishing and leading few digital communities that focus on literature, language, education, and social empowerment. These include:

✨ 1. World Children’s Literature Community (WCLC) – https://shorturl.at/acFv1
✨ 2. Poetry-Pen International Community – A hub for global poetic expressions
✨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 – A space for thought-provoking discussions on language
✨ 6. Literature Talk Community – A gathering of minds passionate about literature
✨ 7. Translation Practice Community – Bridging languages through translation
✨8. English Language Learning, Literacy, and Literary Community (EL4C) – Supporting language and literacy growth

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