Welcome to Penang Arts Council
Be a part of the Penang Arts Council as we support the creative community and celebrate the arts in Penang.
Members enjoy discounts on PAC sponsored events and select member events.
Email your completed form to us at hello@penangartscouncil.org
NAKED WORDS by Mawar Marzuki
Words I have written,
I wrote to you
I’m riding this Ferris wheel of words
to find you
but, you have left
You want to become a painter
who paints me,
my dreams,
my nightmares,
The Ferris wheel
keeps spinning
I should have stepped down
but there are too many naked words
to be written
And these words
I am still writing
for you!
about you!
PENUNGGANG KATA
Kata-kata yang kutuliskan
kutuliskan untukmu
Aku menunggang kata-kataku
dalam orbit sendiri
kerana aku mahu bersamamu
masih… kau tinggalkan aku
aku lupa kau cuma seorang pelukis
yang melukis aku
Orbit kata-kata masih berputar
Seharusnya… aku sudah meninggalkanmu
namun terlalu banyak kata-kata
yang perlu kutuliskan tanpa silu
Kata-kata yang kutulis
kutuliskan untukmu
Fahamilah!
NO REWIND BUTTON by Cecil Rajendra
(for Yasunari on Earth Day)
Late of an evening, watching TV
I’m astonished at your dexterity
with the fast-forward & rewind buttons;
skipping quick pass the ads in a plodding
crime story; or, helping recap a goal
missed, when yours truly dozed off . .. .
Would we had the same apps for our planet.
For, attempting to catch-up with the West
we pressed the fast-forward button to development:
evacuated villages for concrete tenements
supplanted rice-fields with silicon valleys
razed rainforests for palm-oil plantations
flattened mountains for nuclear installations
replaced old religions with new combustion engines
surrendered our privacy to prying technology
handcuffed our lives to i-phone, Net & PC
embroidered nature’s food with chemical compounds
poisoned air & 7 oceans with carbon emissions
drove rhino & tiger to the precipice of extinction . . . .
and now, ginger-bread men frazzling in the sun,
we find we have no rewind button
to press to retrieve our lost heritage & history.