SI TENGGANG'S HOMECOMING

i
the physical journey that i traverse
is a journey of the soul,
transport of the self from a fatherland
to a country collected by sight and mind,
the knowledge that sweats from it
is a stranger's knowledge,
from one who has learnt to see, think
and choose between
the changing realities.

ii
it's true i have growledat my mother and grandmother
but only after having told of my predicament
that they have never brought to reason.
in the country that aliented me
the took to their predecisions.
i have not entirely returned, i know,
having been changed by time and place,
coarsened by problems
estranged by absence.

iii

but look,
i have brought myself home,
seasoned by confidence,
broadened by land and languages,
i am no longerafraid of the oceans
or the differences between people,
not easily fooled
by words or ideas.
the journey was a loyal teacher
who was never tardy
in explaining cultures or variousness.
look, i am just like you,
still malay,
sensitive to what
i believe is good,
and more ready to understand
than my brothers.
the contents of these boats are yours too
because i have returned.

iv

travels nmade me
a seeker who does not take
what is given without sincerity
or that which demands payments from beliefs.
the years at sea and coastal states
have taught me to choose,
to accept only those tested by comprison,
or that which matches the words of my ancestors,
which returns me to my village
and its perfection.
i've learnt
the ways of the rude
to hold reality in a new logic,
debate with hard and loud facts.
but i too am humble, respecting
man and life.

vi

i am not a new man,
nor very different
from you;
the people and cities
of coastal ports
taught me not to brood
over a foreign worid,
suffer difficulties
or fear possibilities.

i am you,
freed from the village,
its soild and ways
interpendent, because
i have found myself.