The Muruku Murmurations

It has been a truly fruitful years for the Muruku Murmurations, from performing as trios to publishing our own zine and having our own show. However all good things must come to an end, and it is important to quit while one is ahead. The murmurators of the Muruku Murmurations are in very different places individually and creatively, hence it is best we take a step back from collaborations with each other and push forward to forge our own path. I hope you still enjoy our Murmurations to come, and continue supporting us individually despite this separation.  - SB I can liken our journey in poetry to a story or book. In a story arc, there is the beginning and an inciting incident which led to the conception of 'The Muruku Murmurations'. The tension builds as the characters go through different conflicts and crisis. Once the climax has passed, there is a resolution. Then the next chapter/episode/volume begins in the saga. The characters evolve and expand through their own d...

A collaborative poem, result of a Facebook Poetry Round started by Boss Lady Lia!  (Lia) Just 3 letters, short and snappy yet so fraught with meaning It can be innocent, curious or belligerent, ready to pick a fight.. (Sheril A Bustaman) Bordering between a question & confrontration, People often forget curiosity killed the cat, Subliminal tones on social media & text, This three letter word - so easily misinterpreted. (Jack Malik) “I’m okay” (Dhabitah Zainal) Or so I have trained myself to believe over the years Because no one has provided me with answers, Just more layers  of questions that linger on in my mind  even after they told me: "some things aren't meant to be  interrogated - they're meant to be accepted." (Gwendonline E. Hay) and after so many years training cats to stay in bags and teaching curiosity it's meant to be seen on report cards and not heard in polite society the word still fits to...

We would like to take this opportunity to wish all those who celebrate, SELAMAT HARI RAYA! May you enjoy all the amazing food that is prepared specially for today and may you have a great holiday spent with family and friends.  Berjoget-joget ke irama lagu Bersantai kemari menjadi tetamu, Berkunjung kawan dan keluarga, Beria-ria Menyambut Hari Raya. Makan rendang kita diundang, Rendang enak dengan lemang, Kuih raya dimakan sampai kenyang, Raya disambut dengan yang tersayang Kawab karib, kawan rapat, Ajak juga kawan baru, Menjamu selera, menunaikan hasrat, Bersantai bernyanyi dengan merdu. Selamat hari raya kami ucapkan, Kepada semua kawan kawan Serapat dianyam daun ketupat, Makan sesama hubungan jadi erat.  - Sherjoyen Wobustamy 2.31pm, 6/7/2016 (Tuesday) Here, There, Everywhere

Our very first quartet collaboration!  Amore, j'adore, I wish you weren't such a bore, If only it was a case of it's not you, it's me, But a future together I do not foresee. Prithee love, my turtledove, Thou doth shame the stars above, With gas and matter their form is set, But thy windbag brain's more gaseous yet. Your jokes be unfunny & aren't even punny, They lack wit so please sit, I mean it when I say I do not want to stay, And I am more than capable of going away my way. Rose bouquets have withered, The scent from your cologne lingered, A stench like death choked me, Reeking rotten flesh the haunts dauntingly. Too much of a good thing can be everything, Or a poison that will leave you with nothing, Methemphetamine, Xanax, Vodka or Tequila, What is left of me after these will be nada. Roses red, lilies white, Can't you find some cyanide? Cynicism, melancholy and tragedy, Put an end to thi...

The Sisterhood has been having a long tiresome week and been wanting to go for a soothing much needed 'hot tile/sweat spa' session. I really need to go to the sweat spa, My back is giving me hell, Would be so nice to have some ' ocha ', Whilst feeling rested and well. My back is giving me hell too, I wish one day this sweat spa trip would actually come true, We tried to go so many times, But the plan fails every time. Steady on ladies it'll happen for us, Even if we have to make a really big fuss, I don't care, we're going to sweat spa soon, Even if we have to bring down the moon. To bask in a heated room, Close my eyes and breath deeply, Look at the big picture instead of in zoom, Open up my mind and exhale gently. It will be nice to just sit back and relax, While lying on heated tiles that does wonders for our backs, Yes, soon we shall do what is deemed impossible, And overcome every obstacle. Regardless of the weath...

We could say this is The Murukku Murmuration . It's about time the Muruku Sisterhood write about the thing we love most aside from our friend and family (and each other, of course). Here is to Murukku ! Twisted as we are, indeed it is fit for us to be called the Muruku Sisterhood. Vennai! Godhumai! Manapparai! Achu! Mullu! Poondu! Kaara ! Pakoda ! Arisi ! Besan   Chakli ! Thenkuzhal ! Thengai paal ! Chegodilu! Kai murukku!  Last but not least Fish murukku ! Hrmmm.... If you were a murukku , which will you be? Would you be the type that is swirly and curly, Would you be spicy with a ton of heat? Or the type with a crunch that can't be beat? I'd be that m uruk ku that is too spicy, With a crunch only certain people like, Handmade with love sometimes by hands so tiny, I am not the mass-produced type. I'd be the curly swirly murukku , The oddball with a little heat too, Most of the time too nutty and crunchy, But always there...

Poetry is a good outlet for rage. Consolidating with your sisterhood is also a good outlet for rage. Combine the two together, you get a pretty angsty poem.  You know what *beep* is such a waste of time, What he's doing should be considered a crime, F*ck *beep*, I'll focus on what's good, Like really awesome rhymes from the Muruku sisterhood. Yea, that is exactly what you should do, Because f*ck *beep*, that damn fool, Never expected him to be such a tool, Can't believe initially we thought he was cool. Well you know how the saying goes, They go Bros before hoes? We got chicks before dicks, We have each other, so forget those pricks. You know sh*t is real when words like prick are being used, He's done enough to make the whole sisterhood blow a fuse, Okay, whatever too bad move on, And thank the Gods with this man I never produced spawn. He isn't ready, he is no Shang, He is hardly anywhere near being a man, He can try with his hair, H...

It was on call for SY on one side of town, SB and JN had a long day on the other. It was time to call it a night after a days worth of work and of course getting excited over poetry. The week was a buzz because we were about to release our 30 Day letter challenge pieces. SB: Hang in there Aunty Swit, Please don't think in rhyme, Diagnosis in poetry might even be a small crime, I sleep now, okay Jo? To bed you should also go. JN: Good night you two, I shall head to bed too, Hang in there, Aunty Swit, Only a few more hours till you get to go home and sleep. SY: We have caught the P oetricus rhymicus virus, Three cheers to us, New rhymes all this week, Let's push on till we reach our peak, Bon nuit Mon Cheris, We'll swing tonight to the tunes of the 20's. -  Sherjoyen Wobustamy Written at 02:52H on 22nd September 2015 Everywhere

So remember that night we had our poetry hangover? This was why. We wanted to come up with something that really celebrates our diversity and fight the racial stereotypes that people sometimes try to put us in. So collectively, this is what we came up with. Love each other you guys, it's important :)  They say I'm Indian, But I didn't quite fit the description, In fact, the only thing Indian about me was the colour of my skin, My skin, the colour of mahogany, I was told I should use fair and lovely, Even so, I never did fit in, I never wore a pottu on my forehead, Or as people called it, "The dot on the head" To top it all off, I didn't speak Tamil, When I did, my family said I sounded mentally ill, So when I ordered my food in English or Malay, People would look at me with such dismay, "And she calls herself Indian" they'd shake their head and say. After church every Sunday, I'd eat Nasi Lemak or Wantan Mee, But nothing...

Thanks to some recent encouragement which got us very excited, we took up the challenge to write more collaborative pieces. We thought we would just write a couple of line and that was it, who knew it would end up like this. This collaborative piece was the by-product of poetry binging and excessive rhyming. Here's the deal about what went down last night, Seriously, I tell you, it was pretty tight, The feels were there and everything went right, The mood was cool and our hearts were light. We converged at our usual HQ, To try and do something somewhat new, To get more collaborative stuff in queue, And to work on projects that were due. Last night was a refreshing treat, With David Cook presuming our tentative meet, It made us girls skip multiple heartbeats, He got the poetry factory to generate so much heat. The internet gave up on working, The Muruku Sisterhood kept on talking, We had to cool down with cooling desserts, And then became more productiv...

In honor of our 1000 views, we wrote this piece together. It's a poem about persevering in times of uncertainty, while the world is watching you take the stage.  T'was a tale of two cities of two people both so witty, Both commanding the stage, coming out of their present rage, One was centred, collected, levelled and believing to be better, Unfortunately the other was uncertain and undecided on the scripts of this matter Fleeting fancies and pretty pansies have left the scene The heart of stone with a soul sick to the bone has entered stage left. Let us seek the non-humorous comedies and find solace in this so called tragedy, Go forth, write and soothe your soul. The words so pretty were just lines of a script, The actor says them convincingly but the audience catch on pretty quick, Dear leading lady, don’t believe all those lofty words of love, When the scene comes to a close, he will take flight like a dove. The stage reeks of the stench of...

For years we have ventured our separate ways on separate platforms and sites to put our thoughts from our cluttered minds on to ' paper' . This is the place where we collaborate to speak / share / serenade the things that stir us up from the inside . Over the years, The Muruku Sisterhood had not only built a strong friendship but experienced a lot together. After going for a poetry reading, the inspiration awakened from inside my soul and triggered me to explore this project of self-expression. Not only am I thankful for good company and the undying support I get from them but I am honoured to be working on this with them. - SY The Muruku Sisterhood has come a long way from jotting down poems/stories/thoughts on random pieces of paper, so we decided that its time we published our musings on the internet. I'm not the most vocal person but sometimes people write the things they can't say, so I guess this is me opening up, and I'm glad I ge...