Into Inside Poem by Ahmad Shiddiqi

(dedicated to Ms. Katherine Ng Li Hoon, my best friend at PH)

speak up
speak around
speak to follower
unspoken, oh dear
how fool we are!

obey this
obey that
obey rules
untamed, oh dear
how cruel we are!

scholar talk
scientific talk
academic talk
unvoiced, oh dear
how naïve we are!

look around
look for victim
look at mistake
unseen, oh dear
how fragile we are!

judge around
judge at crime
judge for money
unbalanced, oh dear
how sinister we are!

never shout
never complain
never disappoint
how harmonious life is!

never tired
never afraid
never bored
how melodious love is!

never gone
never alone
never down
how gorgeous death is!

no more idioms
no more verses
no more speech
let all grow instinctively

no more quotes
no more slogans
no more doctrines
let all glow distinctively

no more lip services
no more tricky sentences
no more shameless words
let all flow spontaneously

as wise man says
as professor says
as president says
it is not so easy to say
what they’ve already done?

as the poet says
as the artist says
as the painter says
it is not so easy to say
what they’ve already done?

as the tycoon says
as businessman says
as philanthropist says
it is not so easy to say
what they’ve already done?

as minister says
as movie star says
as the celebrity says
it is not so easy to say
what they’ve already done?

as the trainer says
as philosopher says
as the mediator says
it is not so easy to say
what they’ve already done?

as the juror says
as the doctor says
as the matador says
it is not so easy to say
what they’ve already done?

as director says
as preacher says
as extremist says
it is not so easy to say
what they’ve already done?

as expert says
as politician says
as policeman says
it is not so easy to say
what they’ve already done?

as the actor says
as the dancer says
as the sculptor says
it is not so easy to say
what they’ve already done?

as the anchor says
as the reporter says
as the engineer says
it is not so easy to say
what they’ve already done?

as the inventor says
as the designer says
as the publisher says
it is not so easy to say
what they’ve already done?

as the postman says
as the carpenter says
as the fisherman says
it is not so easy to say
what they’ve already done?

as the feminist says
as the humanist says
as environmentalist says
it is not so easy to say
what they’ve already done?

as a musician says
as a magician says
as a beautician says
it is not so easy to say
what they’ve already done?

as the traveler says
as the gambler says
as the collector says
it is not so easy to say
what they’ve already done?

as a therapist says
as a zoologist says
as a psychologist says
it is not so easy to say
what they’ve already done?

as the author says
as the explorer says
as the composer says
it is not so easy to say
what they’ve already done?

as the racer says
as the driver says
as the curator says
it is not so easy to say
what they’ve already done?

I love you
I miss you
I adore you
it is honestly hard to say
but it is still harder to do

I wish you
I advice you
I suggest you
it is honestly hard to say
but it is still harder to do

I offer you
I provoke you
I recommend you
it is honestly hard to say
but it is still harder to do

I really don’t want
to value, no more
to judge, no more
to punish, no more
but it is still harder to do

I really don’t want
to hate, no more
to waste, no more
to attack, no more
but it is still harder to do

I really don’t want
to argue, no more
to destroy, no more
to damage, no more
but it is still harder to do

into ourselves
into our private moment
into our intimate memory
can we prepare bravely
to redevelop our society?

into ourselves
into our heart’s bottom
into our deepest feeling
can we prepare bravely
to recharge our humanity?

into ourselves
into our hidden sins
into our secret mistakes
can we prepare bravely
to rebuild our daily activity?

(inspired by Ludwig van Beethoven’s Symphony No.5)