Malaysiana - Leatherback Turtle Poem by john tiong chunghoo

coconut leaves rustle,
running with the wind
at at least 20 km per hour
waves surge at an
equally frantic speed -
patriotic hands that
repeatedly hold onto
the beach with a roaring
and thunderous voice to
match their claim

a giant turtle slowly emerges
from the water, a dark shadow
accenting the night with its
heavy mound that plods through
the night with its strenuous flippers

the final touchdown in a
thousand mile comeback

each stride and lug forward
reflect its love for the land
that it belongs to

it is the first comeback after
many many years at sea
and now for the noblest of chores

in less than two hours,
at least a hundred
ping pong size eggs
have gone into a hole it has dug
a hole large enough to hold
all its love for the land

and you should see how tears
keep rolling down its eyes
as it thanks god it still remembers
its way back to shower its gratitude
to the land that had given him birth

the giant turtle remembers how years
ago it had crept out of its egg, shoveled away sand
and without another thought made its
precarious way to the freedom of the sea

despite the brief encounter, it never never
forgot the land it originated from, its smell, its winds,
its sounds and has logged every inch it had swam
to make that triumphant return today

the hundred eggs hold its hundred wishes
that this tradition be kept for as long
as leatherback turtle exists

plop plop plop
the giant leatherback turtle
plodding through the night