Latiff Mohidin

Sajak-Sajak Tengah Malam

Language: malay

Translations: english (Poems of the Deep Night)

Sajak-Sajak Tengah Malam

i
malam ini
bulan
telah membuka
tirai emasnya
ombak
telah membuka
bibir merahnya
mereka bertemu di sini
di lereng pinggangmu
untuk menyaksikan
tarian asyikmu
tarian mautku

ii
kau lihat bagaimana
kusapu alismu
dengan manisan
kulihat bagaimana
semut mabuk
di lengkung alismu
beriringan

iii
dari kerongkongmu
yang sepi
kudengar

serigala meraung
kuda meringkik
singa menderam
- tiada hentinya

dan halkumku
turun naik
semakin keras
menyahut pekikan
kerongkongmu

iv
pahamu:
kacip yang
lembut

v
tujuh lautan
satu gelombang
di pusar perutmu
berpusing
denyutan purba
memanggil namaku
kuturuni bukit
kutinggalkan padang luas

aku merangkak kembali
ke lubuk kelamu

Latiff Mohidin

photo © Cheryl Hoffmann

* 20.08.1941, Seremban, Malaysia
lives in: Penang, Malaysia

Latiff Mohidin is one of the most renowned and influential Malaysian poets. Born on 20 August 1941 in Seremban, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia, Latiff received his early education in Malaya and Singapore. In the early 1960s, Latiff left his homeland to study at the Academy of Fine Arts in Berlin, Germany, for four years on a scholarship from the Federal Republic of Germany. In 1969, Latiff attended a course on printmaking at Atelier La Courrier in Paris, France and later continued at Pratt Graphic Centre in New York, USA.

During the late 1960’s and 70’s, Latiff travelled through Southeast Asia, prolifically writing poetry and creating monumental artworks that captured the zeitgeist of the region’s turbulent history. Latiff’s poetry plays with fresh imagery and metaphor, encapsulating precision in expression. He has written seven volumes of poetry, including Sungai Mekong, Kenbara Malam and Pesisir Waktu, as well as several art books. His lyrical and evocative literary poetry earned him the SEA Write Award in 1984 and many national awards. His poems been translated in English, Chinese, German, Italian, Danish and Tamil.

As a painter, Latiff has redefined Malaysian visual arts with series such as “Pago-Pago”, “Mindscape” and “Langkawi”. His artworks have been exhibited worldwide in over 30 solo exhibitions, including in Berlin, New York, London, Osaka, Sydney and Sao Paulo.

Latiff is also a highly accomplished literary translator. He has translated Georg Büchner’s Woyzeck and Goethe’s Faust from German to Malay, and has produced Malay versions of world classics such as the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, the poetry of Rumi, Lao Zi’s Tao Te Ching, and Noh plays by Yukio Mishima.

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