Are You Still Playing The Flute?

by Zurinah Hassan

Are you still playing your flute?
When there is hardly time for our love
I am feeling guilty
To be longing for your song
The melody concealed in the slim hollow of the bamboo
Uncovered by the breath of an artist
Composed by his fingers
Blown by the wind
To the depth of my heart.

Are you still playing your flute?
In the village so quiet and deserted
Amidst the sick rice fields
While here it has become a luxury
To spend time watching the rain
Gazing at the evening rays
Collecting dew drops
Or enjoying the fragrance of flowers.

Are you still playing your flute?
The more it disturbs my conscience
to be thinking of you
in the hazard of you
my younger brothers unemployed and desperate
my people disunited by politics
my friend slaughtered mercilessly
this world is too old and bleeding.



1. What does the artist do?
2. Where is the man playing his flute?
3. What is the dominant feeling of the persona?
4. What reason can you give for the following conditions?
a. The rice fields not looking good
b. The village is so quiet and deserted
5. Suggest two activities that you can enjoy in the village?
6. Where do you think the persona is presently?
7. Do you like to live in a village? Give a reason for your answer.
8. What kind of feeling is expressed by the persona in the poem?
9. Why is the persona feeling guilty?
10. Why is the persona’s conscience disturbed?
11. In your opinion, does the persona feel depressed about this world? Give a reason for your answer.
12. What is so distinctive,, about the melody from the flute?
13. Why the rice is described as sick?
14. What does the word sick imply about the rice field?
15. What is it like in the village?
16. Why is there disunity among the citizens of the country?