September 21, 2007

• friday

  Follow
  one word, back

  “Mai”
  Come.

  from
  Hawai`i

  Back
  across the wide green water

  all
  the way to Indonesia . . . “Mai”

  Means,
  “Come” in Bahasa Bali, the old tongue

  Think
  of them leaving

  Men
  and women on boats laid low with pigs,

  Coconut,
  yams, tapioca, taro root, a pregnant dog.

  The
  last real Indonesian on the way to becoming

  The
  first Hawaiian.

  By
  what river crossing?

  Stopping
  along the way to become Maori, Pilipino, Samoan, Fijian,

           
  Tahitian . . . .

  Who
  cartered them with bamboo maps to Easter Island?

  They
  took Gods, Goddesses, seeds and pottery which breaks,

  And
  is found in pieces two thousand years later,

  Like
  clay postcards.

  This
  baby has no English yet.

  “Mai”
  he sings, sweeping a fat hand toward his heart.

  “Come,
  come to me.”

  Follow
  one word forward,

  Follow
  one forward from each new child who speaks.

   

           
           
           
           
  -- Robin Lim

  • 11:14 am
  • 1 Comment