Ｗｏｒｌｄ Ｐｏｅｔｒｙ Ｒｅａｄｉｎｇ Ｈｅｌｄ ｉｎ Ｋｕａｌａ Ｌｕｍｐｕｒ

From 16th to 22nd last August， I attended as an invited participant the World Poetry Reading held in Kuala Lumpur. Being an international poetry festival， the Kuala Lumpur Poetry Reading has been organized by the Institute of Language and Literature of Malaysia with the support of the Cultural Ministry and Foreign Ministry of the country and has attracted the attention of the UNESCO. Since initiated in 1986， it has held poetry reading every two years and this year it had its tenth meeting for world poets. Each of the meetings has a special theme， and the theme of this year’s is “Poetry and Humanity”. Over fifty renowned poets of thirty-odd countries from five continents participated in this year’s meeting. In the course of the meeting， the poets took part in altogether ten poetry recitations in various institutions， schools， tourist centres in Kuala Lumpur and in Malacca City， and held two academic workshops on the subject of “Poetry and Humanity”. Wherever the poets went， they were accorded warm welcome and aroused a mass craze for poetry. In the meanwhile， in order to commemorate the birth centenary of the Chilean Poet Pablo Neruda， his collection of poems Twenty Love Songs and One Sad Song with Malay translation was published; and the Chilean Embassy in Kuala Lumpur hosted a reception for the launching of this book and invited the poets to the Embassy and read poetry. Though with different cultural backgrounds and varied artistic views， the participating poets have reached， through poetry reading and discussions， a common understanding: In the world today， poetry ought to overcome political and ideological barriers and contribute its efforts towards world peace and humanity. The World Poetry Reading is indeed not only a gathering of international poets， but also a meeting of peace and friendship. During the Poetry Reading I recited poems on five occasions. One of the poems I read was Muse， Why Are You Silent Now? which I had written just before I went to Kuala Lumpur， as a speech for the discussion on “Poetry and Humanity”. After I had read this poem， poets of many countries came to shake hands with me and said they agreed with my opinion expressed in the poem. Now I offer this poem to Voice of Friendship for its readers.