Zurinah Hassan, Malaysia
Kita sepatutnya belajar
Dari bunga-bunga di kolam
Yang tidak pernah tenggelam
Kita sepatutnya belajar
Dari kembang teratai
Yang berlumpur di tangkai
Namun tetap terjulang
Dalam warna cemerlang
Kita sepatutnya belajar
Dari kuntum seroja
Yang tumbuh di kasar selut
Dengan kelopak putih lembut
Arus tak selalu tenteram
Sungai tak selalu jernih
Mari belajar dari bunga-bunga di kolam
Untuk mengapung dan bersih
The Water Flowers
We should learn a lesson
From the water garden
From the flowers that never sink
We should learn
From the lotus
How the muddy stems
Hold the flower above
Brilliant and lustrous
We should all learn
From the water lily
In the water so muddy
Keeping white petals in purity
Our path may be gloomy
As the river is sometimes dirty
Let us learn from the water plants
To uphold our integrity
Reprinted with permission.
First published in A Journey Through Prose and Poetry, Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, IIUM Press, 2018.
Zurinah Hassan is the first Malaysian female writer to be conferred the title of Sasterawan Negara or National Literary Laureate. She received the SEA Write Award from Thailand in 2004 and the Sunthorn Phu Award (Asean Literary Prize initiated by Ministry of Culture, Thailand) in 2013. Zurinah began writing from her teenage days and has published several collections of poems, short stories, memoirs and a novel. Her work has been translated into several languages, including English, Spanish, Russian, Mandarin, Japanese and French. Zurinah graduated from Universiti Sains Malaysia, has a Master Degree form Universiti Putra Malaysia and a Doctorate degree in Literature from University of Malaya.
