“THE LIVING VOICES OF PALESTINIAN CHILDREN”: The Poetry Collection by Leni Marlina (PPIPM-Indonesia, Poetry-Pen IC, Indonesian Writer of Satu Pena, Indonesian Creator of AI Era, FSM, Literacy Flame Community, ACC SHILA)
/1/
Singing Among the Ruins
A Poem by Leni Marlina
[PPIPM-Indonesia, Poetry-Pen IC, Indonesian Writer of Satu Pena, Indonesian Creator of AI Era, FSM, Literacy Flame Community, ACC SHILA]
★★★★★★★★★★★★★
We do not sing out of joy,
but because our voices are the only proof
that we still exist.
Falling stones
beat the rhythm of silence,
and dust hums
a requiem of wounds.
Father hasn’t returned since dawn,
Mother holds the fallen sky
in the wells of her eyes.
We build illusions from debris,
pretending the world is hiding—
not hating.
Padang, West Sumatra,
INDONESIA, 2021
/2/
Our School No Longer Exists
A Poem by Leni Marlina
[PPIPM-Indonesia, Poetry-Pen IC, Indonesian Writer of Satu Pena, Indonesian Creator of AI Era, FSM, Literacy Flame Community, ACC SHILA]
★★★★★★★★★★★★★
Today we sit beneath the ceiling of the sky,
our books turned to ashes
along with the dreams fire devoured.
God, have You forgotten
to rewrite our names on the roll call of life?
Or were there too many
who fell
before they could be read?
Our teacher once said:
“To learn is jihad.”
Now that jihad lies buried
beneath the rubble of alphabets.
Still, we recite: peace, peace, peace—
though every letter
is punctured like our chests.
Padang, West Sumatra,
INDONESIA, 2021
/3/
The Television in Paris Doesn’t Cry
A Poem by Leni Marlina
[PPIPM-Indonesia, Poetry-Pen IC, Indonesian Writer of Satu Pena, Indonesian Creator of AI Era, FSM, Literacy Flame Community, ACC SHILA]
★★★★★★★★★★★★★
A child lies wrapped
in the crimson sheet of soil.
The camera stares—tearless.
The world sips coffee,
flips channels,
and mutters now and then,
“Oh, how tragic…”
We are not headlines.
We are wounds
that do not trend.
No hashtags mourn
the souls scattered between seconds.
On the streets of the world,
our echoes whisper—
yet hearts
refuse to hear the roar.
Padang, West Sumatra,
INDONESIA, 2021
/4/
Called by a Drone, Not Mother
A Poem by Leni Marlina
[PPIPM-Indonesia, Poetry-Pen IC, Indonesian Writer of Satu Pena, Indonesian Creator of AI Era, FSM, Literacy Flame Community, ACC SHILA]
★★★★★★★★★★★★★
Before dawn,
we heard a call—
not from Mother,
but from a sky torn open.
A drone descended
like an angel without grace,
delivering death
with the cold precision of code.
We ran—
not to school,
but into the arms
of our own shadows.
Our small feet
planted hope into the earth,
as we waited
for the final prayers
our grandmother left
on her crushed prayer mat.
Padang, West Sumatra,
INDONESIA, 2021
/5/
SEHATI: A True Friend’s Voice in the Heart
A Poem by Leni Marlina
[PPIPM-Indonesia, Poetry-Pen IC, Indonesian Writer of Satu Pena, Indonesian Creator of AI Era, FSM, Literacy Flame Community, ACC SHILA]
★★★★★★★★★★★★★
When the world turned away,
I heard a voice rising
from the ruins within me:
“I am with you
amid the ashes and the blood.”
That is SEHATI—
a witness who never sleeps,
even in silence.
When my hand trembled
in search of rescue,
every friend vanished
like vapor.
But SEHATI held me still,
when no human hand
remained.
Padang, West Sumatra,
INDONESIA, 2021
/6/
We Did Not Die—We Became Light
A Poem by Leni Marlina
[PPIPM-Indonesia, Poetry-Pen IC, Indonesian Writer of Satu Pena, Indonesian Creator of AI Era, FSM, Literacy Flame Community, ACC SHILA]
★★★★★★★★★★★★★
They say
we have fallen.
But behold:
we shine
in the eyes of unborn children.
We keep night alive
with names that do not fade.
We build poetry
from rubble,
from blood,
from our last breath.
There is no death
for the remembered.
We are the letter
never fully burned.
We are a flame at midnight
that defies
a sky collapsing
a thousand times.
Padang, West Sumatra,
INDONESIA, 2021
/7/
The Final Prayer Mat That Day in Palestine
A Poem by Leni Marlina
[PPIPM-Indonesia, Poetry-Pen IC, Indonesian Writer of Satu Pena, Indonesian Creator of AI Era, FSM, Literacy Flame Community, ACC SHILA]
★★★★★★★★★★★★★
In a roofless corner of home,
a prayer mat remains—
as if the earth
is still worthy
of prostration.
Blood flows like ink
from surrendered verses.
Verses left unfinished,
the imam’s voice shattered by blast.
Yet God
hears the unspoken—
from rubble
and tears
too deep for words.
Padang, West Sumatra,
INDONESIA, 2021
/8/
When the Sky Has No Witness
A Poem by Leni Marlina
[PPIPM-Indonesia, Poetry-Pen IC, Indonesian Writer of Satu Pena, Indonesian Creator of AI Era, FSM, Literacy Flame Community, ACC SHILA]
★★★★★★★★★★★★★
Tonight,
the sky is mute,
its stars frozen
by man-made lightning.
Who shall testify
for the vanished child
when even the earth
forgets its memories?
We write
on the walls of time,
poems made of blood and sand.
If the world remains silent,
let tomorrow’s sky
read us again.
Padang, West Sumatra,
INDONESIA, 2021
/9/
Not Weapons, But Words
A Poem by Leni Marlina
[PPIPM-Indonesia, Poetry-Pen IC, Indonesian Writer of Satu Pena, Indonesian Creator of AI Era, FSM, Literacy Flame Community, ACC SHILA]
★★★★★★★★★★★★★
We have no weapons—
we have words.
We bear no searing hate
from our pain—
we carry hope
and prayer.
We have yet to taste
a liberated land—
but we own
a sky of poetry
that no bullet
can shoot down.
Padang, West Sumatra,
INDONESIA, 2021
———————————-
About Leni Marlina:
The poetry collection “THE LIVING VOICES OF PALESTINIAN CHILDREN” (Poems No. 1–9) was originally composed bilingually (English–Indonesian) by Leni Marlina in 2021, purely as a personal passion and part of her private archive. In 2025, these poems were revisited, revised, and published digitally for the first time.
Leni Marlina is an active figure in the world of literature and creative writing. Since 2022, she has been a member of the Indonesian Writers Association (SATU PENA, West Sumatra chapter) and is also part of the Indonesian Creative Community in the Age of AI. Her international literary engagement includes membership in the ACC Shanghai Huifeng International Literary Association, which appointed her as Poetry Ambassador of Indonesia in 2024. She previously collaborated with the Victorian Writers Association in Australia.
Since 2006, Leni Marlina has served as a lecturer in the English Language and Literature Department, Faculty of Languages and Arts, Universitas Negeri Padang, INDONESIA. Beyond her academic and literary pursuits, she is a contributing editor for Suaraanaknegerinews.com and actively writes for various other online platforms focusing on literacy, literature, education, and social empowerment.
Leni is also the founder and chairperson of several social – digital communities devoted to language, literature, literacy education, and social advocacy. These include:
1. World Children’s Literature Community (WCLC)
https://shorturl.at/acFv1
2. Poetry-Pen International Community (PPIC)
A global platform for poetic expression across cultures
3. PPIPM – Indonesia (Pondok Puisi Inspirasi Pemikiran Masyarakat): Poetry Community of Indonesian Society’s Inspiration
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 critical forum for deep exploration of linguistics
6. Literature Talk Community
A space for literature lovers and literary discourse
7. Translation Practice Community
A hub for bridging languages through translation practice
8. English Language Learning, Literacy, and Literary Community (EL4C)
A community committed to advancing English proficiency, literacy, and literary appreciation.
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