Ilustration of "The Fallen Love of Earth": A Poetry Collection by Leni Marlina (PPIPM-Indonesia, Poetry-Pen IC, Satu Pena, AI Creator Era, FSM, ACC SHILA). Image Source: Starcom Indonesia Artworks No. 925-62 (Assisted by AI)

/1/

The Fallen Love of Earth

Poem by Leni Marlina

<1>

You speak of love,
but where are its traces on this fragile earth?
Your waste, like withered flowers discarded,
has turned this land into a cradle of suffering,
covered in dust, poisoned by seeds
you sowed in gardens meant to bloom.

How sweet are those words,
but listen—silent tears of the sea
as your garbage carves wounds.
The earth screams, and you—
hide behind the sweetness of empty words.

What is the meaning of love
that fades so easily?
You claim to care,
yet trees hang their hopes
on the reluctant sky withholding rain.
You speak of life,
why do you destroy it
to fulfill your insatiable desires?

<2>

Trees you fell, seas you pollute,
land you wound for fleeting luxuries.
You preach “green,” but the green is fading,
leaves falling like hopes lost
in the polluted rivers, helpless.

Love?
I see a world chasing wealth
like hunters without limits,
while the earth screams,
and you are ensnared by mirages.
You, with a sweet smile,
say we can fix this.
But if words were enough,
why does the earth still weep in pain?

Want to fix a broken world?
Stop speaking of salvation;
this earth needs more than hollow promises.
It needs hands not only printing money
but planting trees,
protecting blue seas,
healing wounded land.

<3>

I, the wounded earth,
will speak through roaring storms,
quaking tremors,
howling winds—protests unstoppable.
Will you listen?
Or will you drown in your own echo,
empty in the void?

Your love is hypocrisy;
this earth has long been silent,
but it will wait no more.
Want to save the world?
Start by saving the soil of your heart,
because when this earth falls,
there will be no place left to stand.

Stop spreading hollow love,
begin to act—for I will only survive
if you stop betraying me.

Deakin at Burwood Campus,
Melbourne, Australia
2013

/6/

The Mountain’s Furious Heart

Poem by Leni Marlina

I am the pillar of the sky,
from my hands spring water,
from my back grow towering trees,
and from my chest,
you rob treasures never offered.

Human,
you dig my veins with sharp iron,
level the forests that cover my wounds.
I stayed silent as you took,
patient as you carved fresh scars.
But all has limits.

Today I speak
with tongues of fire licking the clouds.
My smoke tells long stories,
my lava flows like tears of blood.
You call me disaster,
but I merely point to you
as the guiltless destroyer.

Oh human,
you build homes at my feet,
hiding behind prayers.
But I am no mountain you possess;
I am a guardian you’ve abandoned.
My tongue splits this earth
not to destroy you,
but to remind you
of the boundaries you’ve crossed.

If you want me silent again,
replant my lost forests.
Cleanse these wounds with respect,
and I will become a protector once more.
But remember,
a mountain awakened in anger
never forgets the lesson.

Deakin at Burwood Campus,
Melbourne, Australia
2013

/7/

Elegy of Thirsty Sand

Poem by Leni Marlina

I am the desert,
a quiet expanse that once sang.
From my sands, the wind wove stories,
from my chest, oases danced in the sun’s embrace.

But you, human,
you stole the water that gave me life,
uprooted the anchors of my soul.
Once eternal gold,
I am now a field of scars,
a graveyard of green dreams.

You stand beside me,
cursing the drought you created.
You call me cruel,
but my sands merely reflect
your countless sins.

Look at the cracks in this land—
they mirror your greedy heart.
Look at the dried oases—
they reflect your insincere tears.
I thirst not for water
but for forgiveness.

Oh human,
if you want me to live again,
breathe rain into my lungs.
Replant the roots you tore away,
return the greenery lost.
Until then,
I will remain a weeping desert,
burying past beauty
in whispers of ignored sand.

Deakin at Burwood Campus,
Melbourne, Australia
2013

———————————
Brief Information

This poetry collection was initially written by Leni Marlina as a personal hobby and collection in 2013, during her Master of Writing and Literature program in Australia under an Indonesian government scholarship. The poems were later revised and began to be published digitally on Indonesian online Media in 2025.

Leni Marlina is the founder and head of PPIPM (Pondok Puisi Inspirasi Masyarakat: Poetry Community for Indonesian Society’s Inspiration) and Poetry-Pen International Community.

Currently, she is an active member of Indonesia’s Writers Association, SATU PENA (West Sumatra Branch, since 2022), and AI Creator Era Community. Additionally, she is a member of the international poets and writers community ACC SHILA (Shanghai), serving as Indonesia’s Poetry Ambassador for ACC Shanghai Huifeng International Literary Association. Leni also participated in Victoria’s Writers Association in Australia.

Since 2006, she has been a lecturer in the English Language and Literature Study Program, Faculty of Languages and Arts, Universitas Negeri Padang.

Leni has established and led several digital-based communities focused on language, literature, education, and social causes, including:

1. World Children’s Literature Community (WCLC): https://rb.gy/5c1b02

2. Starcom Indonesia Community (Starmoonsun Edupreneur Community Indonesia): https://rb.gy/5c1b02