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Poems on the MRT

Tanah Liat Di Tangan Tukang Tembikar / Clay in the Potter’s Hands by Noridah Kamari

 

Tanah Liat Di Tangan Tukang Tembikar
Noridah Kamari

diuli dengan tanah
dibasah dengan air
dibakar dengan api
dikering dengan angin

gelembung urat-urat di kulit nipis
pada tangan dan dahi tukang tembikar
bukti tenaga besar yang dikerah
gabungan fikir dan rasa

ini kerja keras
hasil upaya sepanjang hidup
mencipta keindahan
dari madu alam

di roda tembikar
bangkitlah ia perlahan-lahan
bagai pohon yang mula sedar
ia mampu bernafas dan membesar
bumi milik semua
kini miliknya juga

tetapi ia masih akur
ada tangan yang bergerak
menguli dan melentur

mungkin ia jadi kendi
isi air hapus dahaga
atau jadi mangkuk periuk
tanak akar kayu beri tenaga
atau pasu ukiran bunga
suntik keindahan di ruang tamu
atau terbentuk menjadi bekas
rehat terakhir sesetengah insan
setelah jasad dibakar menjadi abu

di tangan tukang tembikar
mimpi berubah menjadi nyata
berisi dan berdarah
bernafas dan bersejarah

kerana ia tanah liat
ia faham gerak manusia

— Diterbitkan dalam Gigi Nadim Masih Rongak (2020)

Clay in the Potter’s Hands
Written by Noridah Kamari
Translated by Alfian Sa’at

kneaded from earth
moistened with water
baked with fire
dried by the wind

the knots of veins in thin skin
of the hands and brow of the potter
are proof of the energy exerted
combining thought and feeling

this is hard work
a lifetime of effort
creating beauty
out of nature’s bounty

on the potter’s wheel
it rises slowly
like a plant realising
it is able to breathe and grow
this earth belongs to all
now it belongs to it too

but it still acknowledges
that there are hidden hands that move
kneading and shaping

maybe it will become a jug
filled with water to quench thirst
or a bowl or pot
to steam roots for energy
or a vase with flower carvings
injecting beauty into the living room
or it will take the form of an urn
for the final resting place for some
after the body is burned to ashes

in the hands of the potter
dreams turn to reality
filled with life and blood
with breath and history

because it is clay
it understands human movement

— Published in Gigi Nadim Masih Rongak (2020)

Noridah Kamari is the co-owner of the publishing company Unggun Creative. She received her Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Malay Literature from Universiti Sains Malaysia in 2019. She was awarded the Anugerah Harapan (Promising Writer Award) in 2013 and the Anugerah Persuratan (Literary Award) for poetry in the years 1999, 2001, 2003, 2007, and 2009. Her poems have been featured in several local and regional poetry anthologies. She is also the author of a children’s book titled Negeri Setengah Jalan (2015) and a poetry collection Gigi Nadim Masih Rongak (2020). Two of her novels, Buku Tahunan and Membina Istana Di Angkasa, were published in 2023. Noridah also serves as an adjunct lecturer at two local universities.

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Poems on the MRT is an initiative by the National Arts Council, in partnership with SMRT and Stellar Ace. Produced by Sing Lit Station, a local literary non-profit organisation, this collaboration displays excerpts of Singapore poetry throughout SMRT’s train network, integrating local literature into the daily experience of commuters. Look out for poems in English, Chinese, Malay, and Tamil in trains on the East-West, North-South and Circle Lines, as well as videos created by local artists and featuring local poets in stations and on trains. The Chinese, Malay, and Tamil poems are available in both the original languages and English. To enjoy the full poems, commuters may read them on go.gov.sg/potm.

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