*The Child of the Sea*
A Poem by Leni Marlina
1)
I am a child of the sea, born from ceaseless surge,
waves carve paths beyond what is seen,
uncertainty is not a foe, but a song to emerge,
with each swell, I find life's heartbeat keen.
Let storms gather, darken the sky's bound,
I stand firm on the reefs of hope's shore,
like the deep trench, holding secrets profound,
absorbing the world's din, unshaken at its core.
2)
The waves always return, faithful to the sand,
as my love embraces memories' coastlines,
untouched by seasons, unmarked by land,
my longing ripples to meet horizons undefined.
The sea has taught me the art of release,
like foam that dissolves into the night's air,
yet my love anchors in the deepest peace,
spinning tales and traces in the blue's lair.
And though surges bite at the horizon's crest,
shaking fragile hopes at twilight's close,
I know this land remains my eternal rest,
where every crash holds dreams in ocean's prose.
3)
This sea is the home I endlessly call,
beneath the sky's arch, where my love aligns,
my love is a current that knows no stall,
greeting my nation's shores with untiring lines.
Here I stand, a rock amidst time's eddies,
diving through histories whispered in every stream,
and as dusk folds the horizon's edges steady,
I say once more, with breath that gleams:
"My land, I am your child of the sea,
who has never, and will never, leave thee."
Padang, West Sumatra, Indonesia, 2020
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