Selamat ulangtahun, Umi
Moga kasih Allah rahmati
Ibunda nadi nyawa kami
Tunjang usrah payung nurani
Moga mesra senantiasalah
Bunda dalam naungan Allah
Panjang umur beriring sihat
Selamanya dikandung rahmat.
Tentang Pengguliran
Hari hari bergulir lalu
Sunyi hati menghuruhara
Hamba sini setia menunggu
Saat puan pulang ke riba.
On The Call of the Machine
Most days, you will hear it as a whispered breeze
Passing through the tall trees of your daily existence
Seducing you with its gentle caress
And sometimes, on days like today
The song becomes a deafening roar in your ear
Pulling at your hand
Tugging at your heart
Screaming in your face:
Surrender to the machine!
Submit to the call!
Obey obey obey!
On Taming Butterflies
Tame those butterflies
Flutt’ring round your insides - Zen
Comes from knowing Him.
On the Siren Song
Resist the siren
Song of others - your own bell
Must ring eternal!
On Being a Cheapskate and Not Wanting to Pay for a Gym Membership
I haul myself up
The stairs; my Move loop ticks on
My phone - quantified!
On Staying Calm
Calm down. Relax. No one is looking. Everyone else is busy Fretting over their own lives, Their own dreams and conceits and vanities To notice what you just said, Or the existential angst That burns like midnight fire Through each line Of that LinkedIn post that you just wrote.
On Powerpoint
They pay me to draw
Fancy boxes and squiggles
With “mouse” and “paper”.
On Yo-Yo Ma Playing the Cello
Glad musician plays
The cello amidst verdant
Woods - such sublime grace!
On Evensong
Meek birdsong and the
Graceful swirl of violins - my
Evening lullaby.