Pulau Penyengat

Sambil menunggu pompong, perahu traditional sederhana yang menggunakan mesin 'bot' yang akan menyembrangkan kami   ke Pulau Penyengat untuk menziarahi makam Raja Ali Haji, Pahlawan Nasional Indonesia dan juga Sastrawan yang karyanya yang termasyur adalah Gurindam dua belas, kami berfoto bersama di Jetty Tanjungpinang.  

Acara ini dalam rangkaian kegiatan  gerakan "Puisi Menolak Korupsi" yang di adakan di Tanjungpinang. Acara yang dikomandani oleh penyair dari Solo, Sosiawan Leak adalah rangkaian 'road show' yang ke 27. Sebelumnya acara ini sudah dilaksanakan di beberapa kota di Indonesia, diantaranya di Blitar, Pekanbaru, dan Jakarta.  

Tampak dalam gambar  Pena Hasan Bsaidi dari Kep.Riau, Tarmizi Rumah Hitam dari Batam, Dr Fazilah Husin (akademisi dan peneliti sastra) dari Kuala Lumpur, Lily Siti Multatuliana dari jakarta yang sekarang menetap di Melaka Malaysia, M Husnu Abadi PH.D, yang juga seorang akademisi dari Pekanbaru, Sosiawan Leak dari Solo, Sastra Riau dari Pekanbaru dan Heru Mugiarso dari Semarang. 

(foto dari fb Pena Hasan Bsaidi)

foto di makam Ali Haji (dok: lily)

Balai Adat di Pulau Penyengat (dok : Lily)

Rumah Gadang di Pariaman

Di Padang dan Pariaman banyak rumah yang beratap yang seperti tanduk kerbau,
disebutnya Rumah Bagonjong (Atap Bagonjong)
Hampir semua gedung pemerintahan di Padang atap nya Bagonjong 


Ini adalah rumah nenek saya  (dari pihak ayah) di Kampung Perak Pariaman, yang dibangun kembali dan dirawat oleh cucu dari kakak perempuan ayah saya (anak dari sepupu saya).  Hingga sekarang anak perempuan dari sepupu saya  masih tinggal di rumah gadang yang memiliki  atap Bagonjong dengan design yang modern.  Ayah saya yang dilahirkan th 1908 dirumah ini, tentu situasinya lain dan masih rumah lama.

Rumah gadang ayah saya  di Pariaman terkenal dan mudah untuk mencarinya. Hal ini karena rumah gadang  ini juga rumah gadang Prof. Harun Zain (alm) yang pernah menjabat sebagai menteri dan Gubernur Sumatra Barat. Prof Harun Zain juga pernah mendapatkan gelar Datuk Purbe Jase dari Kerajaan Negeri Sembilan. Ibu Prof Harun Zan, Siti Murin adalah kakak kandung ayah saya, Sutan Iskandar Abidin.  

Istilah  Rumah Gadang di Minangkabau adalah rumah keluarga. Rumah ini disebut juga "Pusako Tinggi" biasanya dimiliki sejak zaman dahulu dan tidak boleh di jual. Yang tinggal di 'Rumah Gadang' adalah anak2 perempuan. Zaman dahulu anak lelaki sebelum menikah tinggal di surau, setelah menikah tinggal dirumah istrinya. Tetapi rumah ibunya adalah  "Rumah Gadang" nya. (Kecuali ketika mereka mempunyai rumah sendiri, rumah yang dibeli hasil pencaharian sendiri bukan lagi rumah pusaka tinggi, disebut pusaka rendah. menjadi milik anak2nya semua kelak,  sesuai dengan hukum waris dalam islam) 

Kedua orang tua saya, yang berasal dari Pariaman  merantau ke Jakarta dan Jawa Barat sejak tahun 1920an dan jarang pulang kampung. Saya yang lahir dan besar di Bogor, sedari kecil jarang pulang kampung pula.  Istilah nya kami ini  "merantau cino" istilah untuk orang yang tidak pernah pulang kampung. 

Setelah dewasa saya beberapa kali ketika mengadakanperjalanan ke Sumbar, saya usahakan untuk mampir ke "rumah gadang" ayah saya. Walau hanya singgah  sekejap saja.  

Beberapa waktu lalu (bulan november 2014) saya bermalam beberapa hari di rumah gadang ayah saya, berjumpa dengan saudara sekandung dari generasi yang berbeda (generasi keponakan) tetapi tetap terasa punya kesamaan selera, dan kesamaan sifat "doyan maota/ngoceh2" karena umur yang tak jauh berbeda. Persaudaraan yang kental sangat terasa. Ngobrol tak henti-henti jadilah saya di panggil si "mande kanduang" (tante kandung)

Ibu saya juga asli dari Pariaman,  nenek serta kakek dari pihak ibu saya merantau mengikuti anaknya (ibu saya)  dan tidak pernah kembali ke kampung yang kini sudah menjadi kota kecil yang ramai. Sehingga ketika saya ingin mengunjungi rumah gadang ibu saya (yang sebenarnya inilah rumah gadang saya). Ternyata rumah itu sudah tak ada. 

Beberapa puluh tahun lalu ketika kakak saya kesana dikatakan rumah itu masih ada. Kabarnya kini rumah itu sudah kena gempa beberapa tahun lalu, dan tapaknya tak tentu pula karena sudah banyak tempat2 orang berjualan disekitar situ. 

Saudara dekat ibu saya pun banyak yang merantau sejak 60th yang lalu dan jarang balik kampung. Sehingga banyak yang sudah tidak mengenal orang tua maupun kerabat dekat ibu saya. 

Sedih memang tapi tak apa...saya masih terhibur dengan saudara2 dari pihak ayah saya yang sangat banyak dan termasuk orang2 yang berhasil dan terpandang di Pariaman dan mereka "welcome" sekali. Begitu juga saudara dari pihak mertua saya yang  asli orang Pariaman dan sangat terpandang, yaitu keluarga bangsawan turunan puti2 yang depan rumah gadang (rumah gadang suami saya) masih ada meriam lambang kejayaan masa lalu. 

Dato Kemala

Kumpulan Puisi dengan judul 'ayn 
karya SN Dato Kemala 
Cetakan Pertama diterbitkan th 1983
Cetakan Kedua th 2012 oleh Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka Kuala Lumpur 

Puisi-puisi yang ditulis kala beliau berada di Indonesia yang tertera di buku ini :

" Jakarta"
Jakarta-Singapur-Kuala Lumpur 1973-1974

"Jakarta Interlude"
Jakarta 1976

H.B. Jassin dan al-Qoruan
Kuala Lumpur 1978

"Subuh di Masjid Sa'adah Jakarta"
Jakarta 1978

"Seperti Angin Subuh"
Bogor 1978

keterlibatan Dato Kemala dengan Indonesia diantaranya ditulis pada buku ini : (dalam Biodata)
"Gempa bumi Padang dan Pariaman yang telah mendorongnya menerbitkan antologi 'Musibah Gempa Padang' yang dilancarkan di Masjid Abdul Rahaman bin Auf oleh YB Menteri Wilayah Persekutuan (2009), dan
Sasterawan Taufiq Ismail di Rumah Puisi Taufiq Ismail, Aie Angek pada 30 Januari 2010".

"Selepas menghadiri Struga Poetry Evening di Macedonia, beliau meyakinkan Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka bagi memulakan Pengucapan Puisi Dunia Kuala Lumpur (1986)...Antara penyair terkenal yang pernah mengambil bahagian dalam forum ini termasuklah Bella Akhmadulina, Thomas Shapcott, Masuri SN, WS Rendra, Sutardji Calzoum Bachri..."

Menyelenggarakan Seminar Wajah Kesusasteraan Muslimah Nusantara : Kembali kepada Al-Quran dan Hadis.

*Pariaman adalah kota kelahiran orang tua saya dan nenek moyang saya berasal.
**pada acara Seminar Wajah Kesusastraan Muslimah Nusantara, kala itu saya hadir. Selain Sastrawan dari Malaysia, Singpura ada beberapa rekan sastrawan/penulis  dari Indonesia yang hadir dan menjadi pembicara adalah : Hudan Hidayat, Yo Sugianto, Emmy Martala, Sylvia Hanaeni, Kirana Kejora dan Abidah El Khalieqy, penyair kelahiran Jombang yang juga seorang novelis. Novelnya yang Perempuan Berkalung Sorban (2001) diangkat ke layar lebar oleh sutradara Hanung Bramntyo. Film ini banyak menuai kontroversi karena beberapa adegan di film Perempuan Berkalung Sorban dianggap menhina pesantren dan kiai. Serta Fajrul Rachman sebagai Moderator. 

acara Seminar Wajah Kepengarangan Muslimah Nusantara bisa dilihat disini : 
http://lily-livinginmalaysia.blogspot.com/2014/05/seminar-wajah-kepengarangan-muslimah.html

Lintas Budaya di Kuala Lumpur

Pada hari Rabu 17/9 yang lalu saya menghadiri acara "Open House" yaitu pertemuan  seluruh Anggota MCG (Malaysian Culture Group) di ruang serba guna Kondomunium Meritz Kuala Lumpur. Acara  yang diselenggarakan setahun sekali dan  digelar di jalan Mayang yang lokasinya dekat dengan Menara Petronas bertujuan untuk lebih mengakrabkan anggota. Pengurus Organisasi MCG menyampaikan acara2 yang akan  digelar di waktu yang akan datang, serta memperkanalkan pengurus organisasi yang kebanyakan anggotanya adalah perempuan.

Mengamati budaya-budaya yang ada di Malaysia (budaya Melayu, China dan India) adalah diantara aktifitas organisasi MCG,  yang anggotanya sekitar 100 orang dari lebih 30 negara yang menetap di Kuala Lumpur. Aktifitas lainnya  mendiskusikan budaya dari berbagai belahan dunia,   mendiskusikan karya Sastra Dunia.  Dalam waktu dekat akan membicarakan/mendiskusikan novel sastra yang terkenal dan sudah diterjemahkan dalam banyak bahasa, novel “Bumi Manusia” (This Earth of Mankind) karya Pramoedya Ananta Toer dari Indonesia. Selain itu aktifiti menikmati kuliner dari berbagai Negara (aktifitas ini tentu saja terbatas untuk saya ikuti, terbatas pada makanan halal saja ), serta mengunjungi tempat2 wisata budaya dan sejarah di Malaysia.

Saya sebagai anggota MCG yang aktif  memperkenalkan eksistensi Indonesia dan budaya Melayu yang ada di Indonesia yang banyak kesamaan dengan budaya Melayu di Malaysia serta memperkenalkan keragaman budaya  yang ada di Indonesia kepada para anggota MCG.

President MCG menawarkan saya untuk menjadi pengurus pada organisasi ini.  Sayang sekali karena saya tinggal di Melaka (MCG berkedudukan di KL) rasanya kurang effisien buat saya. Apalagi saya masih sering bulak-balik  ke Jakarta dimana rumah saya masih ada disana, yang masih perlu diurus.  

Menurut saya jika kita  sudah  membuat “commitment” untuk menjadi pengurus, kita  harus benar2 membatu kegiatan di organisasi yang kita ikuti. Bukan hanya untuk sekedar gagah2an menjadi pengurus sebuah organisai International.

Saya sempat ber- selfie bersama teman2 anggota dari Perancis dan selfie bersama Presiden MCG. Tidak enak meminta orang lain mengambil foto buat kenang2an dan buat liputan ini karena budaya/tradisi mereka yang jarang berfoto ria pada saat berkumpul seperti ini.

Saya sertakan juga  foto makanan traditional Malaysia yang bisa kita temui di Indonesia. hanya namanya saja berbeda, kuih Koci dan kuih Seri Dua Muka yang disajikan pada saat acara ini berlangsung

Bicara Karya/discussion book w Lee Su Kim

Bicara Budaya Baba Nyonya dan Bicara Karya yang disampaikan oleh Dr. Lee Su Kim, dosen/pensyarah dan Penulis buku yang telah menghasilkan beberapa karya, kumpulan cerpen (berkaitan dengan budaya Baba Nyonya), buku non fiksi (tentang budaya Baba Nyonya) diantaranya 'Malaysian flavours' 'Kebaya Tales' 'A Nyonya in Texas'. 

'Kebaya Nyonya', 'Sarung motif batik' (dari Pekalongan Jawa-Tengah Indonesia), dan 'kasut manik' adalah ciri khas pakaian "Baba Nyonya" di Malaysia (khususnya di Melaka) 

Kebanyakan dari masyarakat "Baba Nyonya" sekarang ini bicara dalam bahasa Inggris yang banyak  di terjemahkan secara langsung dari bahasa Melayu Malaysia dan Cantonese
contoh :
"Your head" (terjemahan langsung dari bahasa Cantonese Lei Keh Tow) dalam bahasa Jakarta/betawi "pale lo"
"Action" (to show off ) ....He got a new car. Action only...drive around so fast
bhs Indonesia (slang/bhs gaol) : "action ajah tuh"

Masyarakat "Baba Nyonya" di Indonesia disebut "Peranakan Tionghoa" "Kebaya Nyonya" disebut "Kebaya encim" bahasa yang digunakan bahasa Indonesia yang tidak standard.

Di Indonesia sering masyarakat (bukan hanya masyarakat peranakan Tionghoa) menggunakan bahasa Inggris yang terjemahan langsung dari bahasa Indonesia yang tentu saja bagi penutur bahasa Inggris menjadi tidak tepat (not make sense) seperti kata : "thanks before"


========
Monthly Lecture with Author Dr. Lee Su Kim who share passages from Kebaya Tales and her latest book Sarong Secrets. 
Dr. Lee Su Kim, a lecturer n an author of the short stories about culture 'Kebaya Tales' and writing about Malaysia's folkways, enlightening readers with tidbits of Malaysian Flavours (the title of her first book) 

Her talk also include how her rich heritage came into being and how she and others are working towards preserving the colourful mix for the future.

This event which is held
By  : Malaysian Culture Group (MCG) 
Date : 5 Juni 2014
At : 10.30
Location : Meritz Kondomunium Kuala Lumpur 

Monthly Lecture with Author Dr. Lee Su Kim who share passages from Kebaya Tales and her latest book Sarong Secrets. 
Dr. Lee Su Kim, a lecturer n an author of the short stories about culture 'Kebaya Tales' and writing about Malaysia's folkways, enlightening readers with tidbits of Malaysian Flavours (the title of her first book) 

Her talk also include how her rich heritage came into being and how she and others are working towards preserving the colourful mix for the future.

Seminar 6 Sastrawan Negara 2014 UPM (University Putra Malaysia)

Menjadi Pembicara/Pemakalah 

Menyampaikan makalah mengenai "Aspek Sejarah dalam Novel Rimba Harapan karya Keris Mas" di UPM (Universitas Putra Malaysia)

Pada:

Seminar : SASTRAWAN NEGARA SIRI 2-2014

Tanggal 26 April 2014

Pukul 8.30 pagi - 5 Petang

Tempat : Dewan Za'Ba FBMK UPM

Perasmi : YBhg. Prof. Datuk Dr Mohd. Fauzi Haji Ramlan (Naib Canselor, UPM)

Pengerusi Seminar Sasterawan Negara 2014 : SN Dato' Dr Ahmad Khamal Abdullah

Bicara Karya/Diskusi Buku Bersama Penulis Imran Ahmad

Bicara Karya/Diskusi Buku yang diselenggarakan oleh Malaysian Culture Group (MCG). Bersama penulis Imrah Ahmad, penulis yang lahir di Pakistan kini tinggal di Kuala Lumpur.  Sebelumnya tinggal di London sejak kecil. Buku yang dibicarakan  The Perfect Gentleman : A Muslim Boy Meets the West. Buku ini juga   sudah diterjemahkan kedalam bahasa Indonesia menjadi Bocah Muslim di Negeri James Bond yang diterbitkan oleh penerbit Mizan 

foto2 (dok. lilySiti)

Date : 14 April 2014
Time : 10.00 a, for a 10.30 start
Place : Meritz Kuala Lumpur

                                                                        Imran Ahmad


Imran Ahmad was born in Pakistan, grew up in London and went to university in Scotland before embarking on a corporate career which took him all over the world, including five years in the United States.

Currently living in Kuala Lumpur, he is on the Board of British Muslims for Secular Democracy, a diverse organisation which has the goal of dissolving the myth that all Muslims can be grouped together to fit a single stereotype, as well as opposing the imposition of theocratic and regressive cultural values on any individual, group or gender. Dari sini

                                                                  foto dari sini

Maya Angelou

Maya Angelou (lahir 4 April 1928 – meninggal 28 Mei 2014 pada umur 86 tahun) adalah seorang penulis puisi dan skenario, orator, dan aktris Afrika-Amerika.[1] Dia adalah wanita Afrika-Amerika pertama yang diminta untuk membacakan puisi karyanya dalam inagurasi presiden Amerika Serikat tahun 1993.[2] Puisi yang dia bacakan di pengangkatan Bill Clinton berjudul "On the pulse of Morning" dan karya tersebut juga mendapat Penghargaan Grammy (Grammy Awards) pada tahun yang sama.[2] (dari wikepedia)

Foto Dari sini : http://www.epiphanychannel.com/people/maya-angelou/

Youtube : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59xGmHzxtZ4#t=138


Puisi dari sini : http://onthepulseofmorning.wikispaces.com/On+the+Pulse+of+Morning

On The Pulse of MorningMaya Angelou Written: Spoken at the Presidential Inauguration Ceremony, January 20, 1993.

A Rock, A River, A Tree
Hosts to species long since departed,
Mark the mastodon.
The dinosaur, who left dry tokens
Of their sojourn here
On our planet floor,
Any broad alarm of their of their hastening doom
Is lost in the gloom of dust and ages.
But today, the Rock cries out to us, clearly, forcefully,
Come, you may stand upon my
Back and face your distant destiny,
But seek no haven in my shadow.
I will give you no hiding place down here.
You, created only a little lower than
The angels, have crouched too long in
The bruising darkness,
Have lain too long
Face down in ignorance.
Your mouths spelling words
Armed for slaughter.
The rock cries out today, you may stand on me,
But do not hide your face.
Across the wall of the world,
A river sings a beautiful song,
Come rest here by my side.
Each of you a bordered country,
Delicate and strangely made proud,
Yet thrusting perpetually under siege.
Your armed struggles for profit
Have left collars of waste upon
My shore, currents of debris upon my breast.
Yet, today I call you to my riverside,
If you will study war no more.
Come, clad in peace and I will sing the songs
The Creator gave to me when I
And the tree and stone were one.
Before cynicism was a bloody sear across your brow
And when you yet knew you still knew nothing.
The river sings and sings on.
There is a true yearning to respond to
The singing river and the wise rock.
So say the Asian, the Hispanic, the Jew,
The African and Native American, the Sioux,
The Catholic, the Muslim, the French, the Greek,
The Irish, the Rabbi, the Priest, the Sheikh,
The Gay, the Straight, the Preacher,
The privileged, the homeless, the teacher.
They hear. They all hear
The speaking of the tree.
Today, the first and last of every tree
Speaks to humankind. Come to me, here beside the river.
Plant yourself beside me, here beside the river.
Each of you, descendant of some passed on
Traveller, has been paid for.
You, who gave me my first name,
You Pawnee, Apache and Seneca,
You Cherokee Nation, who rested with me,
Then forced on bloody feet,
Left me to the employment of other seekers--
Desperate for gain, starving for gold.
You, the Turk, the Swede, the German, the Scot...
You the Ashanti, the Yoruba, the Kru,
Bought, sold, stolen, arriving on a nightmare
Praying for a dream.
Here, root yourselves beside me.
I am the tree planted by the river,
Which will not be moved.
I, the rock, I the river, I the tree
I am yours--your passages have been paid.
Lift up your faces, you have a piercing need
For this bright morning dawning for you.
History, despite its wrenching pain,
Cannot be unlived, and if faced with courage,
Need not be lived again.
Lift up your eyes upon
The day breaking for you.
Give birth again
To the dream.
Women, children, men,
Take it into the palms of your hands.
Mold it into the shape of your most
Private need. Sculpt it into
The image of your most public self.
Lift up your hearts.
Each new hour holds new chances
For new beginnings.
Do not be wedded forever
To fear, yoked eternally
To brutishness.
The horizon leans forward,
Offering you space to place new steps of change.
Here, on the pulse of this fine day
You may have the courage
To look up and out upon me,
The rock, the river, the tree, your country.
No less to Midas than the mendicant.
No less to you now than the mastodon then.
Here on the pulse of this new day
You may have the grace to look up and out
And into your sister's eyes,
Into your brother's face, your country
And say simply
Very simply
With hope
Good morning.

---

---

Poem Summary

​Lines: 1-8
In these opening lines, Angelou sets the scene and tone of the poem. She places three objects before the reader: “A Rock, A River, A Tree,” but doesn’t give a specific location. These three elemental pieces seem removed from any landscape, and, from the capitalization of each name, it has been speculated that Angelou intends each to stand for itself in a type of grandeur. The poem goes on to explain that these objects are “hosts to species long since departed,” still surviving though their “tenants” are long extinct, further implying they carry a certain “historical wisdom.” From here the poet lists a few of those creatures known only from their “dried tokens” dug up and reassembled in museums. Their “sojourn,” or temporary stay here, ended in a “hastening doom,” which they had no way of predicting or preventing. “Any broad alarm” of their extinction is now dwarfed by the mountain of history between their time and the present.
If lines 7 and 8 are read aloud, it’s possible to hear the rich sounds Angelou crafts into the poem. The repetition of long vowel sounds and the internal rhyme of “Doom / is lost in the gloom” perhaps reflect the somber mood Angelou is setting while describing these extinct creatures.

Lines: 9-13
Line 9 marks a shift in time, a move from looking back at history to the present. The “Rock” from the first stanza now has a voice, which it is using to cry out “clearly, forcefully.” It offers the reader an invitation to climb up and get a better perspective of where America might be heading in a journey toward a “distant destiny.” But like a teacher the Rock warns against seeking any shelter or hiding place behind it in the darkness. “Shadows” have long been the places that cause fear, where bad things lurk under beds or behind closet doors. They are also, literally, the absence of light: within shadows it is difficult to see clearly. For the religious, light is divine; for philosophers it is knowledge. Believing this, divinity and knowledge are absorbed by the stone but absent in its shadow.

Lines: 14-18
In the third stanza, the Rock continues its lesson, addressing the reader directly as “You, created only a little lower than / the angels.” Here the poet seems to close the gap between man and heaven, the stone again raising the reader. This Rock has seen dinosaur come and go, and now humans, who, it notices, “have crouched too long in / the bruising darkness / face down in ignorance.” Angelou’s verb choice “bruising” in line 16 may describe how a shadow casts a blue-black mark across a face, reminding the reader of conflict and its dark wounds. The speaker suggests humans have been hiding, not looking up toward the light, afraid of what they might learn.

Lines: 19-23
Angelou ties the third and fourth stanzas together with the line “Your mouth spilling words / Armed for slaughter.” She may have broken the line here to force the reader to pause in the white space between, to guess “what kind of words?” before finishing the sentence. The harsh words “spilling” from humans’ mouths seem to be pouring out of our control, “armed for slaughter,” ready for a fight with anyone listening. But the Rock warns again, summarizing “stand upon me; / But do not hide your face.” People may wear many “faces” — student, laborer, wife, father — that are different, but they all provide an identity and a sense of individuality.

Lines: 24-26
With the beginning of a new section, Angelou introduces a new speaker, the “River,” which, in a song, invites the reader to come closer and “rest here by [her] side.” To get to the River, the reader had to cross “the wall of the world,” which may be some real geographic feature, or just representative of a boundary or obstacle on humankind’s journey.

Lines: 27-34
The River compares each person in America to “a bordered country / perpetually under siege,” relating the troubles of an entire nation back to its million voices. The River explains what the country has done wrong: gone to war for money, polluted waters with machines and factories, ignored the needy. Angelou describes the toxic waters as a “current of debris upon [the River’s] breast,” giving nature gender and perhaps reminding that it is “Mother Nature” who is being destroyed. There is a place for Americans to rest on her shore, but only if they “study war no more.”

Lines: 35-40
If people come “clad in peace,” the River offers them a song: a gift the Creator gave before the tallest tree ever broke soil as a single shoot. “I and the / Tree and the Rock were one” once, the River explains, in a time before recorded history, in a time before man began drawing boundaries and daring others to cross these lines.
“Cynicism” is the belief that people are motivated by selfishness, and the “bloody sear” across their brows may be a reminder of the mark Cain was cursed to wear for his selfish act — the murder of his brother. “When you yet knew you still knew nothing” perhaps means a humbler or even wiser time; Plato said “True wisdom is knowing we know nothing.”

Lines: 41-49
Using a list — or a litany — to create a wide panoramic scene of diverse peoples, Angelou introduces the reader to a new speaker, the Tree. It seems everyone is here to listen, regardless of culture, occupation, which gender with which they fall in love, or to which God they pray. This diverse list works to welcome any and all to the foot of the Tree, much like the engraved invitation at the base of the Statue of Liberty, “Bring me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses.”

Lines: 50-54
In this short stanza the poet repeats again the invitation to “plant yourself beside the River,” the entire mass of humankind welcome to hear the song. The Tree has many symbolic meanings, not the least of which is the concept of extended family — or “Family Tree.” A tree also has roots that stretch into the very earth. In these symbols Angelou is reminding the reader of their place both within their family (blood relations and other) and within nature.

Lines: 55-63
Calling Americans “descendants of passed-/ On traveler” the River asks the reader to consider both their own past and the past of the country as a whole. There is a reminder that all Americans are immigrants, that they are “just passing through.” Angelou follows this up by directly addressing the Native Americans, those who lived in this country centuries before Europeans ever arrived: the Pawnee tribe, Apache, Seneca; the people who first named the rivers and trees and mountains. These people who once rested with the River were “forced on bloody feet” by the visitors in their land to work and mine.

Lines: 64-69
In these lines Angelou advances the poem through another list of diverse people, the rhythm of the names keeping beat, Arabs and Eskimos sharing company in the same breath. She begins the list with people who came to this country to escape religious persecution or find a better life for their family, and concludes with those who were forcibly uprooted and “bought / Sold, stolen, arriving on a nightmare / Praying for a dream.” This “dream” may be a reference, or allusion (a reference within a literary work to another work), to Martin Luther King’s famous “I Have a Dream” sermon, which became an anthem for the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s.

Lines: 70-79
In the second section of the poem, the stanzas become longer, building in imagery and force. In lines 70-74 the poet returns to the comforting refrain “root yourselves beside me.” The three voices — Rock, River, Tree — may be a single “I,” the whole of nature speaking. Back in lines 55-56 Angelou writes “each of you / has been paid for,” and a similar statement is made in line 74: “your passages have been paid.” Who’s paid for these passages? What have America’s ancestors done to insure the journey? Regardless of origin, the Rock/Tree/River asks humankind to “lift up [our] faces / For this bright morning dawning for you.” These lines mirror the second stanza, where Angelou offers images of shadow and light. This is also the first indication to the poem’s title, perhaps working to create an overall theme or mood of dawning hope. Yet Angelou also cautions that the hardship that has led to this new day should never be forgotten: “wrenching pain, / Cannot be unlived.” She warns that America must learn from its dark past so that when new problems arise they can be overcome; “if faced / With courage, [history] need not be lived again.”

Lines: 80-83
Following this revelatory stanza, where the three voices merge in a call to a bright new morning, this shorter stanza closes the entire second section on a quiet, consoling note. The lines become short — most less than four words — the poet perhaps wishing to slow the pace before the complete stop of the section break. For the third time Angelou invokes the refrain “lift up your eyes.” The dream the slaves prayed for might be alive again if a new generation “will study war no more” and instead “give birth again” to a peaceful world.

Lines: 84-92
Beginning the third section with a single addressing line, Angelou maintains the encouraging, powerful tone of the Rock/River/Tree, yet the speaker is not specifically identified. She asks America to “Sculpt [your private need] into / The image of your most public self.” This is an elusive line in its generalization, perhaps telling instead of showing, but if it is broken down into its parts, a central tension reveals itself. The line asks the reader to sculpt or transform their most private needs into something that can be shared with others, the personal made public. Angelou doesn’t develop further what “private needs” may be, but most critics have speculated a reference to the most basic human freedoms. In this sense these lines are a call to action, an encouragement to emphasize the importance of human rights. Whereas before Americans are asked to lift up their eyes, line 87 asks the same of their hearts, the center of all life and emotion. There are “chances / For a new beginning” if people can divorce themselves from fear and unchain themselves from their violent ways. “Yoked” refers to the wooden harness which keeps an ox secured to the plow it drags, a heavy bar across the animal’s shoulders and fastened with straps around its body.

Lines: 93-101
The sections are shorter and more frequent as Angelou nears the end of the poem. In the fourth section she returns to the locale of the second stanza, perched on the back of the land looking out toward the future. “The horizon leans forward,” providing room for “new steps.” This metaphor of taking steps may mean literally to walk forward as well as take “steps” or actions to ensure that past mistakes are not repeated. The speaker now reveals itself as the voice of America, the “Country” and all the trees, rivers, rocks, people, and animals of which it is composed. “Midas” in line 100 refers to the fabled king who could turn any substance to gold with his touch, including, he regretfully discovered, those he loved, leaving him with a castle filled with lifeless riches. A mendicant is a beggar; like the privileged standing next to the homeless before the Tree in line 47, all are equal in the larger “pulse of this fine day.”

Lines: 102-110
In this closing section the title of the poem reveals its meaning, the theme of a new dawn for humankind coupled with the pulse that courses through America’s common veins. The lists of various peoples earlier in the poem now become the simple image of family: when people look up and out at their future, they are looking at their “sister’s eyes” and their “brother’s face.” Whereas most of the poem asks the reader to rest and listen to the wise teacher, these last lines implore speech. A “simple” lesson, Angelou refrains certain lines as many as four times throughout the poem, the tone taking on an almost lulling, song-like effect. The first step to this new day is a simple but meaningful action. Look up and out and say “Good Morning.”

http://atrandom.com/mom-me-mom/

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

The story of Maya Angelou’s extraordinary life has been chronicled in her multiple bestselling autobiographies. But now, at last, the legendary author shares the deepest personal story of her life: her relationship with her mother.

For the first time, Angelou reveals the triumphs and struggles of being the daughter of Vivian Baxter, an indomitable spirit whose petite size belied her larger-than-life presence—a presence absent during much of Angelou’s early life. When her marriage began to crumble, Vivian famously sent three-year-old Maya and her older brother away from their California home to live with their grandmother in Stamps, Arkansas. The subsequent feelings of abandonment stayed with Angelou for years, but their reunion, a decade later, began a story that has never before been told. In Mom & Me & Mom, Angelou dramatizes her years reconciling with the mother she preferred to simply call “Lady,” revealing the profound moments that shifted the balance of love and respect between them.

Delving into one of her life’s most rich, rewarding, and fraught relationships, Mom & Me & Mom explores the healing and love that evolved between the two women over the course of their lives, the love that fostered Maya Angelou’s rise from immeasurable depths to reach impossible heights.

Baca Puisi di Singapura

Baca Puisi di Singapura

Silaturahmi antara para aktivis Bahasa dan Sastera Melayu di Singapura dan anggota IKOSAS, (Ikatan Penulis Malaysia Kopi Sastra) dan Peluncuran Buku Antologi Puisi IKOSAS yang pertama

Tanggal : 5 April 2014

Tempat : Kelab Masyarakat Fuchun Singapura

Waktu : pukul 2.00 petang hingga selesai

Pengerusi Fuchun CC MAEC : Yahya Hamid PBM

Acara dihadiri oleh Sastrawan Negara Singapura Suratman Markasam.

Kami diajak berwisata di Singapore dan mengadakan perjumpaan dengan Sastrawan Singapura, Rohani Din

link baca puisi di youtube : Baca Puisi di Singapore

Seminar Wajah Kepengarangan Muslimah Nusantara

Menghadiri Seminar Kepengarangan Muslimah Nusantara th 2009

Pada :
Tanggal 29 Maret- 2 April 2009
Tempat : Dewan Seminar Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka KL
Pemakalah dari : Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei Darussalam, Singapore