The Muruku Murmurations

Prompts from  Makhluk Seni  for WELP, a movement to 'weaponise' love in all forms of expression. Prompts were released throughout the month of February for writers to submit any short form of writing. This was written with another new sample from Blanketfren  playing in the background on loop. It is becoming a very interesting exercise because as I write, I heard different accents in the sound that influences either the choice of words or direction the phrase takes. I am so glad that there is inspiration to finished these pieces that have been stagnant for some time. Prompt 21: Like oceans... The ocean is a beautiful place, full of wonder and miracle.⠀ Or it could be a terrifying place, full of mysterious creatures. Perhaps it pulls and pushes you, like the waves by the beach.⠀ ⠀ We think that love can be like the ocean. What do you think? Write to us.⠀ ⠀ #WELPPACT   #PACT2 The skies are always perfect even during a storm A consistent reminder that nothing sta...

Prompts from  Makhluk Seni  for WELP, a movement to 'weaponise' love in all forms of expression. Prompts were released throughout the month of February for writers to submit any short form of writing. Recently I had the privilege to listen to some samples by Blanketfren , I completed the piece while listening to that sample on loop. The inspiration came from some recent conversations between us and some close friends of mine and the urge to use more natural elements in my writing. One of my favourite pieces to date. Prompt 10: I hear you in... The whispers of Love can be heard from many miles away. Sometimes they say something to you, sometimes a reminder,, sometime advice, perhaps sometimes even longing.⠀ ⠀ Tell us, what do you hear?⠀ ⠀ #WELPPACT   #PACT2 Welcome to this space where the Sunday market doesn't close You have room to sit for a pit stop Cross-legged, one leg up, all stretched out As long as your hips have settled in its anchor Tethered by wires o...

I wrote this when I had so much emotions pent up because I was so overwhelmed by Tash Sultana   performance on Tiny Desk by NPR. She is so raw and full of expression, I was left in a ball of messed up emotion I could not untangle. She left there crying by the interstate Slow jams and psy-trance playing It's calling her. Calling her to internal stories yet to be told It never grows old She is crying tears of summer days and wasted spaces Of memories that can't be erased It's permanent like a scarred tattoo It heals empty. She's been crying her lungs out Taking shelter under piers Away from light She's been gasping for air like a sick new born who doesn't even know what breathing feels like. She's been scrapping words from the ceiling of her mouth Hard and sharp They don't calm her down She can't comprehend her thoughts She been running down her shadows Gunning down her stilettos Screaming out her demons Playing t...

#NaPoWriMO2018  #Day26 prompt by Poetry Cafe KL #NaPoWriMo #jazz #music Find a quiet place and crank up the record player to listen to a seminal piece of jazz. Write a poem in response to it. I loved dancing with you Through our days and nights Every beat felt right In the moment Being us, being true. Pulsing through the rhythm Let it rise and sink Till the brink In the space of the count Living in the anthem. In the breath of the step Filling up the connection Building the tension Rolling into each stretch Feeling each prep. Speaking in your sway Through each move Every part of isolation You had your individual groove With the music we played. You have made my heart full Overflowing with joy Feeling every push and pull Streamlined every pattern You made this dance beautiful. - Swit Marie 0517H 29th April 2018 Taman Bahagia

#NAPoWriMo2018  #Day19   Poetry Cafe KL #NaPoWriMo #soundpoetry #soundpoem #jackmalik #dada A sound poem is where the phonetic aspects of human speech are foregrounded instead of more conventional semantic and syntactic values; "verse without words". By definition, sound poetry is intended primarily for performance. Dom Tak Beh Dom Dom Tak Don't Beh afraid now Take heed in your stride Beh all that you are Don't stop coz your Heart don't stop Beh-Beh-Beh-Beating. Dom Dom D-D-Dom Dee Dee Doo Дом книги (Dom Knyigyi) is a library Дом (Dom) is a home Hum to the drums That Beh-Beh-Beh-beat With every dee dee detail Do what your heart says D-d-dig into the book Дом is a dome dee dee dom. - Swit Marie 0914H 29th April 2018 Taman Bahagia

#NaPoWriMo2018  Day13  prompt by Poetry Cafe KL #NaPoWriMo #music Write a poem that celebrates a style of music that you love - its culture, its time and space, its people, its country, its city, its sounds. Baby baby baby baby blues Strumming along the guitar Letting the pulse beat with your heart Bleeding words on the stage Becomes a work of art Don't matter what's your age Just write it on a page. All your feelin' All your stressin' All your lovin' and your livin'. "I sing The blues." "Damn right I got the blues From my head down to my shoes " - Buddy Guy Get down deep in your knees Let the groove make you move C'mon on baby, baby please "The blues are the roots and the other music are the fruits." - Willie Dixon Ain't nothing better than The Blues No way you gonna lose. The Blues are gonna jazz ya The Blues is the remedy The Blues will get ya feel better The Blues are gonna get...

This piece was inspired by The Greatest Showman's song, ' This Is Me '. I performed this spoken word piece at my first 'featurette' for Malam Sayu Berpuisi . It was the rare opportunity to perform at KLPAC . I sang part of the chorus as the finale of this piece. I tried to use the many different elements that I have learned from the workshops that I attended in 2017. break 1 breɪk verb verb:  break ; 3rd person present:  breaks ; past tense:  broke ; gerund or present participle:  breaking ; past participle:  broken 1. separate into pieces as a result of a blow, shock, or strain. Hello, can you hear me? You are B-b-b-b-b-b-breakin up Eight days, 8 months, 8 years That is a loooooong time to be a p a r t . . . Break my aching heart Into pieces that Rake my fields of joy Break apart like a tree struck by lightning Split in half, burnt to a crisp Collapsed, defeated. Break d o w n Break... My thoughts Break....

I was at No Black Tie for  John Dip Silas '  NewSound  live performance featuring Tasha Aleia . I closed my eyes and let the jazzy tunes take me away, allowing  words to flow  with the melody. Let me paint Lazy streaks of purple seeping through the pastel blue Crimson red dancing with blood orange Soft lace of white layering lush rich emerald green Tinge of magenta melting with fuchsia And velvet black speckled with shadows of gray. Close my eyes and touch The shade of mood The stroke of emotion The curves and the way the brushes sway How the canvas sticks to tales Forever binding itself as one. Soaking up every ounce Letting the colours seep deep Lightly indenting its every taste Caress with every touch Feel the texture of grain and thread. Never listen thinking you already know what is happening and listen to the story. Let the story whisper e v e r y s y l l a b l e V-v-v-v-vibrate your ear drums Fill your mind Betwee...

After attending a couple of workshops, I wanted to write a piece that incorporated the elements that I have learned and present a 'homework' piece as a tribute to my heroes in poetry. As this month is Mental Health Awareness Month , Breast Cancer Awareness Month and recently Day of The Girl , I had those themes in mind for this piece. Pending is a tribute piece to the late Chester Bennington of Linkin Park , for now, this is what I can muster out in the mean time. Special thanks to Umar Abdul Azizi from Makhluk Seni for the impromptu accompaniment using the 'Seruling'. He is wonderful, honest and the punniest person I have ever met, so eager and hardworking in creating spaces for artist to experiment and collaborate. I am humbled to have him do this performance with me at ' If Walls Could Talk ' Vol. 40 featuring Pooja Nansi and Crinkle Cut. This piece is dedicated to: My mother who has supported me through my battle with Depression and Anxiety M...

This piece was written after I went for Scott Sneddon's workshop on Performance Poetry and a challenge by Melizarani when she saw my blonde hair. This piece is about layers and how each person has the potential to be more than who they present themselves to be. Let's be proud of who we are. Lyrics were taken from Justin Bieber's What Do You Mean Let's make Malaysia great again Let's make the world a better place Let's take away the pain Let's take away the rat race. Let me shake your hand And take your hand So we can make a stand At the front of this stage On this rich and flourishing land And put in motion what we have planned. We have come to an age Where words don't stay on a page They are typed out on timelines And taking and giving offense is now fine Animals are allowed out of their cage To be proud roaming predators To instil fear and go on a rampage And let out their rage. I think everybody is trying hard. It ...

NaPoWriMo Day 4 Prompt taken from  Spill The Ink Poetry Lab by  If Walls Could Talk KL " Write a poem using a line or verse from a song that you love!" Using the lyrics from " Scars To Your Beautiful " by ALESSIA CARA as response and using my words to respond to her lines. #2017inkedwallsday04 #2017inkedwallsprompt04 #NaPoWriMo2017 #NaPoWriMo #NPWM Why do you defile the walls of your holy temple? "She just wants to be beautiful." The comments of acquaintances and strangers are ample. "She craves attention, she praises an image." The pain resembles repetitive scrapping of a blunt scalpel. "So she tries to cover up her pain, and cut her woes away." I live not by judgement or instruction but by example. "She goes unnoticed, she knows no limits." "She prays to be sculpted by the sculptor." It is true that my body was sculpted by God. "Oh she don't see the light that's...

This piece is inspired by the lyrics of 'Paint' from 'The Surrogate Friend'  album by Francis Wolf. Happy Birthday to you, Wolf! Thank you for your words of kindness, encouragement and love. This piece is dedicated to you. Colours of you make my day, You take away the gloom of the grey, Paint roses on my cheeks, Every time you start to speak. Paint my life with rainbows, Make my days colourful, Shimmer in the browns of my eyes Every time you be my surprise. With all the things you randomly said, Paint my laughs in fiery red, Your comedy is as good as gold, Every punchline never gets old. I will always be there for you As the sea and skies are blue, You are the yellow in the sunshine rays, Paint my life with your love every day. - SY 19:49H 4th October 2016 Bayu Timor

Relationships are difficult to start, maintain and end. Some times it is better that people have what they have and move on their separate paths after that. This piece is inspired by 'Wake Up Sally' from ' The Surrogate Friend ' album by the one and only Francis Wolf. Good night lil Sally, Glad we enjoyed tonight, Before you know it, You will be gone tomorrow. Sleep lil Sally, Don't talk to me all night, We have done our deeds, I got you smiling just right. Wake up lil Sally, Dawn has come, Dreams have gone, This isn't your bed anymore. C'mon lil Sally, It's time for you to go, You know you can't stay, Don't ask me again tomorrow. Goodbye lil Sally, It's best that we go our own ways, Don't touch me or hold me, You very well know what I will say. Take care lil Sally, I'll quietly miss you, This you will never know, Along with the side of me I will never show. - SY 21:04H 2nd August 20...

Many a times, Love and Lies go hand in hand in a partnership. A lyric inspired piece based on 'Love and Lies' from The Surrogate Friend  album by Francis Wolf. Little lies Told with love, Over and over again, In the same bed we lie. Loving you, In my head, Looking at you again, With lies in your eyes. Look away, Lie with me, Love me long again, Turn your back to stay. And love, And lie again, Lies and loving you, That's just what we do. - SY 11:41 8th July 2016 Pandan Mewah SY is a 'Jacqueline of all trades' who loves wearing plaids. She doesn't believe in things that fade and fulfills the promises that she made. She seeks the hearts of the troubled, to be a listener in times when things are doubled. She's the kind who stands in the gap, who will only call it quits when it's a wrap.

Night lights give us comfort to sleep just as how we go driving through the city streets deep into the wee hours of the morn. This poem is inspired by 'Driving In The Night' from 'The Surrogate Friend' album by Francis Wolf. Well, let's get hyped and fired, Then chill and get wired, Cruising through the city streets, Jamming with the hip hop beats. Tar roads and gravel, All the same as we travel, Arrows and painted lines, Traffic lights and bill board signs. Past the graffiti and kelundings , Savour all the subtle things, Let go driving in the night, Set on park beneath the bright lights. - SY 21:41H 29th April 2016 TMS HQ

NaPoWriMo Challenge Prompt Week 7: Our prompt for Week Seven comes to us from Gloria Gonsalves, who challenges us  all to write atritina. The tritina is a shorter cousin to the sestina, involving three, three-line  stanzas, and a final concluding line. Three “end words” are used to conclude the lines of each  stanza, in a set pattern of ABC, CAB, BCA, and all three end words appear together in the  final line. Every hoarder's dream and nightmare are found in their store room. This piece is based on 'My Store Room' from 'The Surrogate Friend' album by Francis Wolf The door was closed, Behind trinkets and memories, What I kept, I thought I needed. My storeroom of memories, A reminder of all I had wanted and needed, Hills of boxes that should be kept closed. Occasionally I took what I needed, Relived those days with my eyes closed, Cherish sweet timeless memories, We all have storerooms of open and closed memories. - SY 03:55H 6th M...

This is a song inspired poem powered by 'Gravity' by John Meyer. A force that keeps us grounded, So we don't go astray as we go afloat, Gravity is working against me, My heart sinking into the grounds of somewhere remote. My heart can't stand more than this, This man and all the love he has to give, It feels a lot like hit and miss, Life as we know it is what we have to give. It's too difficult to go and to stay, The push and pull will eventually give way, I can't stop the words that he would say, Those dreams he painfully throws away. The more he gives and the less he takes, Two folds or more isn't enough, If it isn't good enough, he will raise the stakes, I can see he is having it rough. Gravity is working against me, Too good to be true, this love of his, Gravity bringing me down to reality, To say goodbye to a love like this. On bended knees we surrender, One to tired to stand, the other by gravity's hand, W...

A piece inspired by Avril Lavigne's song titled Nobody's Home. I can relate to this song as sometimes I tend to feel lost. Then that moment of panic/anxiety hits and you tend to look for a safe place or home and you can't find that and you go back to feeling lost.  Broken and bruised, Rejected, Feeling used, She has never felt more dejected. I watch her make the same mistakes again and again, In her eyes I see the pain, Wishing there was something I can do, To help her with what she is going through. Too many problems, She's hit rock bottom, Everything seems to go wrong, She doesn't know where she belongs. She's lost inside, She is all over the place. She's lost track of how many times she has cried, But she tries to put on a brace face. She wants to go home, But home to her is unknown, She doesn't know where it is, Or if it even exists.  - JN 7.00pm, 29/4/2016 (Friday) Home, Kelana Jaya

So this is based on a song from the the movie Dilwale called Daayre. Daayre actually means limitations or boundaries. Most of the time we let boundaries stop us from doing what we want.  Why do we let the ones we loves slip away? Daayre Why do we choose to give up and decide not to stay?   Daayre   Daayre,                                   The walls we build so the ones we love cannot get close, Even though they're the ones we love the most, We let the boundaries and limitations get in the way.   Daayre The thoughts we have inside our head, And the words we will never say,   So we choose to walk away instead.   Daayre,   When you're alive but not living, Because the limitations and boundaries are winning, And it keeps you from living life your way.       - JN 10.00am, 24/2/2016 (Wednesday) Home, Kelana Jaya

So, this piece was inspired by a song called Aftermath by Rascal Flatts. This talks about the aftermath of a breakup in all it's ugliness and brokenness.  The way you said goodbye, It was like we weren't even worth a try, You left without a second glance, Like I didn't deserve a chance. How was I to know you would break me down so easily, And tear me apart so quickly, I guess I believed in our future more than you, Or else you would not have said "We're through." All that's left of me is me and my jealousy, Along with the 'what could have beens' and the 'maybes,' You told me I should just move on, And just like that you were gone. The words you said can't be taken back, It's too late for that, Because now I feel the aftermath of a fragile cracked love, That you let go of. It feels like gravel to skin, The hurt has set in, Now all that's left of my heart are pieces and parts, And you walk away thinking it...