"THE WAITING LAKE": Duet Poems Collection Presented by Leni Marlina (Indonesia) & Anna Keiko (China) - ACC Shanghai Huifeng Literary Association, Poetry-Pen International Community, PPIPM-Indonesia, Satu Pena

/1/

Leni Marlina, a writer, poet, and academic 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 SHILA and Satu Pena. Image Source: suaraanaknegerinews.com.

The Waiting Lake

Poem by Leni Marlina

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

This lake reflects an inverted sky—
It is the face of a world forever sought.
Its silence is the hush of forgotten histories,
Yet in its depths,
Secrets of the world lie buried.

Its ripples—
An unheard thunder.
Its waters, a mirror
For dreams
That never quite became whole.

And we,
Like a lake cradling the night,
Keep waiting,
Though we do not know
What the future will reflect.

Padang, West Sumatra,
Indonesia, 2017

/2/

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.

Drop of Water

Poem by Anna Keiko (China)

Translated by Leni Marlina (Indonesia)

A single drop
Falls day by day,
And a stream becomes the sea.

A tiny spark
Glows year by year,
And a frail shoot grows into a towering tree.

A single meeting—
Like a blank page kissed by colored ink,
Painting a springtime filled with love.

Shanghai, China
February 14, 2021

/3/

The Ocean That Embraces Time

Poem by Leni Marlina

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

By Leni Marlina
[PPIPM-Indonesia, Poetry-Pen IC, Satu Pena Sumbar, Kreator Era AI, FSM, ACC SHILA]

This sea—
Not just rolling waves,
But silence
Waiting.

Its tides—
Prayers left unspoken,
Breaking against the cliffs,
Holding a thousand longings
That will never be returned.

Yet in its depths,
It knows:
Every lost ripple
Will rise again.

And we,
Like an ocean embracing time,
Never cease,
Though we are shattered
A thousand times over.

Padang, West Sumatra,
Indonesia, 2017

/4/

LIFE

Poem by Anna Keiko (China)

Translated (English-Indonesia) by Leni Marlina
(Indonesia)

I do not know what tomorrow holds.
Once, I dreamed of a life bright as flowers,
Drifting like a bird,
Hidden beneath the water like a fish,
Leaves rising firm as the tree’s steadfast pillars.

But now I know—
My life is a bottle adrift,
Never bound for here, nor there.

Shanghai, China, 2025

/5/

The River That Never Returns

Poem by Leni Marlina

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

This river cannot stop—
It flows through the earth,
In every direction,
Carrying stories left unfinished.

This river teaches us that time,
Though it cannot be held,
Still moves forward,
Leaving traces that never fade.

And we,
Like a current that never returns,
Follow the journey,
Though we know not where it leads.

Padang, West Sumatra,
Indonesia, 2017

/6/

I Am the You That You Forgot

Poem by Leni Marlina

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

I was fire before you knew heat,
The flame that burned
Before the first candle was lit.

I exist in your breath,
In the spaces of your nameless longing.
I flow in your blood,
Slip through the seconds you let pass,
Waiting for the moment you realize—
I am not something that comes from without,
I am the you that you forgot.

Why seek light beyond your window
When your sun has long burned within your chest?

Why ask where the waves have gone
When the ocean never leaves itself behind?

I am no riddle to be solved,
I am the door that has always been open.
It is only you who must decide:
To step inside,
Or to keep knocking forever.

Padang, West Sumatra,
Indonesia, 2017

/7/

The Flame That Seeks Itself

Poem by Leni Marlina

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

I was fire before you knew light,
A spark born before you understood flame.
I burn within your chest,
Yet you walk as if darkness still rules your steps.

I whisper in your breath,
Yet you ask why silence does not answer.
I flow through your veins,
Yet you seek warmth beyond your own skin.

You run from thirst,
Yet I am the water waiting within your longing.
You search for meaning in words,
Yet I am already written in the pulse you ignore.

I am not lost,
Not something to be sought,
Not waiting to be found.

I am you—
Waiting for the moment you return to yourself.

Padang, West Sumatra,
Indonesia, 2017

/8/

Everything You Leave Behind Awaits You

Poem by Leni Marlina

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

Do not weep for flowing water,
For it knows its way home.

Do not try to grasp the wind,
For it only wishes to whisper secrets,
Not be owned.

You think you are lost,
But the path has never disappeared—
Only your heart has forgotten how to read the signs.

You search for meaning in letters,
Yet truth is not written on paper,
It hides in the silence you never greet.

Everything you release
Has never truly left.
Everything you grieve
Has long become a prayer embraced by the sky.

Everything you seek
Has always been waiting at your door—
Not to be found,
But to remind you
That there is no journey,
Only a homecoming that never ends.

Padang, West Sumatra,
Indonesia, 2017

————————
This collection of poems above (No. 1, 3, 5, 6, 7 was originally written bilingually (English-Indonesian) by Leni Marlina in 2017. The poems were revised and first published digitally in 2025.

Leni Marlina is a writer, poet, and a lecturer. She is also member of Indonesian Writer Community of SATU PENA-West Sumatra, Indonesian Creator of AI Era, Penyala Literasi-West Sumatra (Literacy Practice Community)and Forum Siti Manggopoh (FSM). She is also an active member of the International Poetry and Literature Community ACC in Shanghai and has been entrusted as the Indonesian Poetry Ambassador for the ACC Shanghai Huifeng International Literary Association (ACC SHILA). Leni has been involved in the Victoria’s Writer Association in Australia. Since 2006, she has dedicated herself as a lecturer in the English Language and Literature Department, Faculty of Language and Arts, Universitas Negeri Padang (UNP).

Leni has founded and leads several digital/social communities and activities 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)