sand
Muhammad Haji Salleh
how long have you been here
on this edge of the waters,
listening to the voices of the ocean,
railing against the northwest winds,
or sensing the restless in the stems of the trees
the heat of the noon sun
and the cold bullets of the night rain?
i must learn from a million years
of the substance of gravel,
from the tune of the quiet earth,
the clamour of the violent thunder
that merges into the season’s stories.
what have you said to the oceans
with your language of rustles,
how do you share the land
with the rivers and channels
decide on rights and freedom?
tell me
so that I may know
the dancers
Muhammad Haji Salleh
the dancers
move centre stage,
their steps
gentle, swaying
with the gait of villagers
and their emotions
as elegant as the music
of unknown composers.
they are us,
they are our memory
through time,
spoken and live
in the endless tales.
i taste both the words
and the primordial dialect,
the history of water and earth,
genealogy and migration –
the tale of a people’s journey,
in the gentle voice
of a teller of romances.
i consume gazes
that dance in their eyes
and the songs of their heroines.
they calm my mind
and cures,
as much
as they warn
the dark ghosts and malicious spirits.
with harsh threats.
words heal
with the music of language,
reminds us that we cultivate
sounds within our ancient logic,
and live by them
throughout our unkind history.
Muhammad Haji Salleh
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Muhammad Haji Salleh
Muhammad Haji Salleh has taught in three universities in Malaysia, and has been invited to teach in the US, Brunei, and Germany. In Leiden, he held the chair of Malay studies, while in Berkeley and Harvard he was an academic and research fellow. He was also a fellow at the University of Kyoto Center for Southeast Asian Studies. Muhammad was chosen as the Sasterawan Negara Malaysia, National Laureate (1991), and Tokoh Akademik Negara, National Scholar of Excellence (2008). He has written more than 60 books of poetry, criticism, and translation. He is now writing the third (albeit small) volume of his autobiography.