Kamaria Buang, Singapore
Setelah benih itu kau tinggalkan
Tuhanmu menjaganya
Setelah waktu beralih sudah
Tuhanmu menjaganya
Setelah menghadapi parubahan
Tuhanmu menjaganya
Setelah rumahnya kau siapkan
Tuhan tetap menjaganya
Setelah lama mengurung diri
Kau intai malam dan siang
Waktumu melihat duniamu
Kau cuba berteman kejora
Waktumu menuntut kebebasan
Kau cuba merumpun senyuman
Pada kembang serata taman
Pada mentari mencari kehangatan
Dengan gemilang sayap kau kembangkan
Kau mencari kepuasan
Dan masa semakin menghilang
Dan akhir lembali kepangkuan
Tiger Butterfly
After the egg was laid you left
God protects it
After time shifts by
God protects it
After it evolves
God protects it
After you built it a house
God still protects it
After a long hibernation
You spy night and day
Your time to see your world
You try to befriend the morning star
Your time to demand freedom
You try to gather smiles
For the flowers blooming in the park
To the sunlight seeking warmth
With the glorious wings you spread
You seeking contentment
Fluttering around for direction
Inhabiting the transparency of time
At last to the ground you fall
Translated into English by Pasidah Rahmat
Kamaria Binte Buang is a full-time housewife by day and a sewing instructor for The People’s Association (PA) at various Resident and Community Centres. An avid poet, she writes primarily in the Malay Language. Her poetry was first published in 2005 by Berita Minggu. To date, 100 of her poems have been published by Berita Minggu. In the Anugrah Persuratan 2009, Kamaria was awarded in the poetry category with her piece entitled, Anak Tertangga Kelantan Lane, which was included into the MOE Malay A-level literature textbook Bergitulah Kata-kata and Sandalku Milikmu (2015). Her first book, Tanah Di Sini, Aku Bersemadi (poetry) was published in 2015. She is a member of ASAS ‘50, a literary community of Malay Language writers.
Pasidah Rahmat is a Senior Officer in DBS Bank. Her first Malay short story was published in Berita Harian in 1983. After marriage, she left the literary world and only returned in 2016, where she was shortlisted as one of the 35 participants for Mencari Kristal, a short story competition organised by Berita Harian and the National Arts Council. She has written more than 20 short stories and about 20 poems, mainly in Malay, which have been published in newspapers and several anthologies. Currently, she has once again been shortlisted for Mencari Kristal 2019. She is a member of ASAS ‘50, a literary community of Malay Language writers.