I lay in bed listening to the cadence
Of words in stories and poems
I think my grandfather
Must have had wanderlust
I remember him talking
About his wish to visit Cairo in Egypt
And he would take off bus trips
To various countries round Africa

Indonesia has given me
A home where I can be
Who I want to be
And do what I want to do
I love this country
And its people, its art
I hope I can make and dedicate
A contribution towards the future

I feel we together need
A storyteller of things
Rich and strange
To counterbalance the learned sociological, anthropological
That bypass sounds, smells, sights, and ambiance
That not writing for the converted
The book has been worth
All the joy and effort
Exhaustion in its creation
Above all they must be simple
Without being simplistic and have avoided
Foreign words as much as possible

Ahmad Shiddiqi

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/i-lay-in-bed-listening-to-the-cadence/