the poet told us
there was a beach
but a hurricane came
and swallowed it up
but a hurricane came
and swallowed it up
there was also a nation of people
but a New Zealand sponsored
hurricane
just as hungry
swept away people like grains of sand
but a New Zealand sponsored
hurricane
just as hungry
swept away people like grains of sand
with the help of
longremembered newfound family
he finds the old foundations
where hibiscus trees grow wild
with memories of his mother
longremembered newfound family
he finds the old foundations
where hibiscus trees grow wild
with memories of his mother
using a new machete
he follows the old tracks
to a not-so-distant past
meeting his ancestors along the way
capturing them on canvas
mapping out their stories
so they will
never be lost
he follows the old tracks
to a not-so-distant past
meeting his ancestors along the way
capturing them on canvas
mapping out their stories
so they will
never be lost
and his own children
will be able to find them
will be able to find them
From Dream Fish Floating
Poem shared here with the permission of the author.
‘For John Pule’ was published in Dream Fish Floating, New Zealander Karlo Mila’s first book of poetry. Dream Fish Floating went on to win the NZSA Jessie Mackay Award for Best First Book of Poetry at the 2006 Montana New Zealand Book Awards, the beginning of many accolades for Karlo.
Karlo’s work is courageous and broad. She seamlessly navigates political and personal subjects: from cultural considerations to identity in modern New Zealand society, from her personal development as a woman to pregnancy and motherhood. She is of Tongan, Samoan and Palangi (European) descent, and represented Tonga at the international Poetry Parnassus in London earlier this year. http://soundcloud.com/southbankcentre/sets/poetry-parnassus-2012/
Karlo has had work anthologised in Whetu Moana: Contemporary Polynesian Poems in English and Short Fuse: The Global Anthology of New Fusion Poetry. Her latest work, A Well Written Body, was created in collaboration with artist Delicia Sampero. It is a powerful collection of Karlo’s poems and Delicia’s beautiful artwork.
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This week's editor Leah McMenamin lives and writes in Wellington, New Zealand. You can read her Tuesday Poem blog here.
