AS SWEET AS MORNING AT YOUR WINDOW

English Version

AS SWEET AS MORNING AT YOUR WINDOW

Poem by Leni Marlina

Baca juga: RUMAH SAKIT SASTRA

–

Morning breaks upon your windowpane,
blue streams softly over your shoulder again;
the curtain whispers its secrets to time,
night slips slowly from your eyes into mine.
Dust dances lightly across the old floor,
a small shard of sunlight slips through the door;
steam from the cup rises into the air,
warm for a moment,
then vanishes there.
You do not speak,
I do not ask;
silence awakens
behind its mask.
The old hinge sighs with a weathered sound,
as though lost memories were turning around.

As sweet as morning at your window,
as clear as dew where the pale hours glow;
I need not gather that light in my hand,
it is enough to watch it bloom where you stand.
If the door opens beneath your feet,
go wherever your calling and horizons meet;
I will not nail your feet to the heart of my home,
love is not a cage for the wings meant to roam.

Baca juga: Kumpulan Puisi Karya Zulkifli: "KALI INI BUKAN BARANGKALI"

You move, and the light moves after you,
the shadows grow smaller, then tremble and blue;
a grain of brightness falls onto the plate,
flickers a moment, then slips from its state.
Once I wanted to keep everything near:
your voice, your smile, your footsteps so dear;
but the glass taught me what holding can do:
what we clutch too tightly may cease to be true.
So your name
I keep not in my pocket;
your footsteps
I leave unmarked at the door’s lock.
Let the wind become your address in the air,
something I cannot possess,
yet always keep there.

As sweet as morning at your window,
as warm as steam where the cold panes glow;
I need not gather that light in my hand,
it is enough to watch it bloom where you stand.
If the door opens beneath your feet,
let the road choose the rhythm where your footsteps meet;
I will not nail your feet to my house anymore,
love is not a cage, nor a locked-up door.

Perhaps love is not the hand that binds,
nor the door that shuts out changing winds;
perhaps love is only a warm little key,
left on the table, quietly, tenderly free.
So the one who leaves
need not leave a scar,
so the one who stays
need not count the stars.
And when distance
becomes our tongue,
let longing
learn what remains unsung.

Noon arrives, and morning’s colors fade,
the glass becomes glass in the ordinary shade;
dust settles quietly back on the floor,
the cup grows cold where it waited before.
The curtain is still.
The wind slips through.
Yet something remains
in all that I knew:
not your shadow,
not your name,
but the world
that changed and was never the same.

As sweet as morning at your window,
as warm as dew where the pale lights glow;
you need not stay to make your presence true,
it is enough that you came
and the world changed too.
If someday your window
faces a different sky,
I will not move your sunlight
nor teach it where to lie;
let morning find you freely, wherever you are,
in the place you have chosen, beneath your own star.

Morning breaks upon the glass.
You open the window.
I do not knock.
The wind enters
carrying light.
The curtain sways.
The cup is still.
Now I understand:
the loveliest art
is not the hand
that keeps what it can,
but the heart
that opens its hand.
You are free to become
your own way, your own direction.
And since you have gone,
the window of my heart
has learned this tender truth:
love is no longer as sweet as morning at your window.
And now I understand,
we must release one another,
so happiness may return to us,
like morning returning to the window.

–
Melbourne, Australia, 2012

—

About the Poet – Leni Marlina

Leni Marlina is an Indonesian poet, writer, translator, and lecturer in the English Department, Faculty of Languages and Arts, Universitas Negeri Padang, Indonesia, where she has taught since 2006. Her creative and scholarly work encompasses poetry, fiction, essays, literary criticism, reviews, translation, and literacy studies.

Beyond academia, she is actively engaged in literary journalism and literacy advocacy. She serves as a writer, contributor, editor, and editorial board member of SAN Digital Media Group, including Suara Anak Negeri News, Suara Anak Negeri, and Negeri News, contributing literary works, essays, articles, and reports on education, literature, culture, and humanitarian issues.

Marlina is the founder and chairperson of several literary and literacy communities, including PPIPM-Indonesia, Poetry Pen International Community (PPIC), Littalk-C Literary Talk Community, Translation Practice Community (Trans-PC), and World Children’s Literature Community (WCLC). She is also an active member of SatuPena West Sumatra and PLS.

Her international literary engagement includes affiliation with the Victorian Writers Centre, Australia, since 2012, and membership in the Shanghai Huifeng International Literary Association (ACC SHILA) since 2024. Through her academic, creative, and community work, she promotes literature and literacy as spaces for human connection, cultural dialogue, and social transformation.

——
Indonesian Version

SEMANIS PAGI DI JENDELAMU

Puisi: Leni Marlina

–

Pagi pecah di kaca jendelamu,
biru mengalir membasuh bahumu;
tirai berbisik kepada waktu,
malam perlahan luruh dari matamu.
Debu beraksi di lantai yang tua,
cahaya kecil singgah di sana;
uap dari cangkir naik ke udara,
hangat sebentar
lalu tiada.
Kau tak berkata,
aku tak bertanya;
sunyi menemukan
bahasanya.
Engsel tua berderit pelan,
seperti kenangan membuka jalan.

Semanis pagi di jendelamu,
sebening embun di ujung waktu;
tak perlu kugenggam cahaya itu,
cukup kulihat ia tumbuh padamu.
Jika pintu terbuka untuk langkahmu,
pergilah sejauh arah memanggilmu;
takkan kupaku kakimu di rumah hatiku
cinta bukan sangkar bagi sayapmu.

Kau bergerak, cahaya pun bergeser,
bayang-bayang mengecil, lalu bergetar;
sebutir terang jatuh di piring,
berkilau sebentar
kemudian tinggal warna bening.
Pernah ingin kusimpan semuanya:
suaramu, senyummu, langkah yang sederhana;
namun kaca membantuku membaca:
yang digenggam terlalu erat
bisa kehilangan bentuknya.
Maka namamu
tak kusimpan di saku;
jejak kakimu
tak kutulis di pintu.
Biarlah angin menjadi alamat,
yang tak kumiliki
namun selalu kuingat.

Semanis pagi di jendelamu,
sehangat uap yang menyentuh kaca itu;
tak perlu kugenggam cahaya itu,
cukup kulihat ia tumbuh padamu.
Jika pintu terbuka untuk langkahmu,
biarkan jalan memilih arahmu;
takkan kupaku kakimu di rumahku
cinta bukan sangkar bagi sayapmu.

Mungkin cinta bukan tangan yang mengikat,
bukan pintu yang dikunci rapat;
mungkin cinta hanyalah kunci yang hangat,
diletakkan di meja
tanpa syarat.
Agar yang pergi
tak perlu melukai,
agar yang tinggal
tak merasa sepi.
Dan bila jarak
menjadi bahasa,
biarlah rindu
belajar mengeja.

Siang tiba, warna pagi menua,
kaca kembali menjadi kaca;
debu berhenti menari di lantai,
cangkir dingin di ujung meja.
Tirai diam.
Angin berlalu.
Namun sesuatu tinggal di mataku:
bukan bayangmu,
bukan namamu
melainkan dunia
yang berubah setelah mengenalmu.

Semanis pagi di jendelamu,
sehangat jejak embun di kaca itu;
tak perlu kau tinggal untuk jadi berarti,
cukup pernah hadir
dan dunia berganti.
Jika suatu hari jendelamu
menghadap langit yang berbeda dariku,
takkan kupindahkan arah mataharimu;
biarlah pagi menemukanmu sendiri
di tempat yang kau pilih untuk menjadi.

Pagi pecah di kaca.
Kau buka jendela.
Aku tidak mengetuk.
Angin masuk
membawa cahaya.
Tirai bergerak.
Cangkir diam.
Kini kupahami:
yang paling indah
bukan tangan yang berhasil menahan,
melainkan hati
yang sanggup membuka genggaman.
Kau bebas menjadi
arahmu sendiri.
Dan sejak kau pergi,
jendela hatiku
belajar menerima cinta tak semanis pagi di jendela hatimu lagi
Dan aku mengerti kita harus saling merelakan agar bahagia datang kembali.

–

Melbourne, Australia, 2012

—-

Tentang Penulis – Leni Marlina

Leni Marlina merupakan penulis, penyair, dan akademisi asal Sumatera Barat yang menetap di Padang. Kecintaannya pada dunia literasi tumbuh sejak masa sekolah dan terus menemaninya hingga kini. Ketertarikannya pada sastra semakin berkembang ketika menempuh studi Master of Arts (Writing and Literature) di Australia.

Sejak tahun 2006, ia mengajar sebagai dosen tetap di Departemen Bahasa dan Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Bahasa dan Seni, Universitas Negeri Padang. Di sela-sela aktivitas akademiknya, ia menulis puisi, cerpen, esai, artikel ilmiah, serta terlibat dalam sejumlah kegiatan penerjemahan dan penyuntingan.

Bagi Leni, menulis bukan sekadar kegiatan kreatif, melainkan juga cara untuk belajar memahami kehidupan, merawat kemanusiaan, dan berbagi harapan. Karena itu, selain berkarya, ia aktif dalam berbagai komunitas literasi dan kepenulisan serta turut mengelola sejumlah ruang belajar dan berbagi bagi para pencinta edukasi, literasi dan sastra, termasuk Litttalk-C (Literary Talk Community) & Starcom Indonesia (Starmoonsun Edupreneur Community).

Melalui kata-kata dan kegiatan literasi yang dijalaninya, ia berusaha memberi sumbangsih, sekecil apa pun, bagi tumbuhnya budaya membaca, menulis, dan apresiasi sastra. Beberapa penghargaan di bidang kepenulisan pada tingkat lokal, nasional, dan internasional pernah diterimanya, yang ia syukuri sebagai bagian dari perjalanan panjang untuk terus belajar dan berkarya. Email: lenimarlina@fbs.unp.ac.id || Wattpad:@lenimarlina_write || Instagram:@lenimarlina_starmoonsun