Johnny got wan nu muruk insaid his banis

BY ICARUS

Johnny is my naybah. Johnny is my wantok’s bestie.
Johnny got wan nu muruk insaid his banis
an it’s fiding on my trabolled brainses!

Johnny em tok olsem, we sud behave; us. Like he does, eh laka?
Sez we nid to be obedient citizenry
an try to work aroun eni un-pleasantry
But it’s hard to be-have wen we don’t have, Johnny.
Dose Have’s, let dem be-have. We Have-nots, be-have not!

We not gonna follo rules dat alreadi sum bosses dem broken!

Johnny he sed like dat ‘we behave and be civil’. Aahh?
Civil little servants, set de precedence
Dem evil little bastards juss fuck up de kantri mahn!

Must be hard to be wan obedient little civil servant

wen so many Big Men leaders dem so disobedient, eh laka?
An me to be-have?! Am I yor smallboi, or?! Am I yor longlong?!
Tokim MP be-have, becoz he already have, Johnny!
He have your money and mine, Johnny!

My nada wantok sez, many of us is laik ‘neo-tribal’
Planti man meri raun lus nating, planti sidaun lo banis
Lukluk tasol, stap-stap. Longlong!
Nogat tingting, nogat toktok
na luk olsem nogat man blo wok!

But dat wan nu muruk yu got insaid yor banis, Johnny,
it got wan crafty style.
Wan blary ugly bird but style yah!
Poor bugger got no wings to fly,
but good long legs to run wan strong resis, ah Johnny?

We not gonna follo rules dat alreadi sum bosses dem broken!

Sampla kisim nupela  tingting, sampla autim gutpela tok
Mekim niupela rules, nau yet, nau yet!
Mekim ol lidamahn bihainim lo!
Tingting gut. Toktok gut. Mekim gut.

Comments

[Mrs Barbara Short]

Poor old cassowary, he been blamed for too much trouble in the past.

Now Icarus has him representing "Obedient Citizenry" (
Moral Rearmament PNG style!).

[Peter Aimos]

Barbara - Remember Brandi! We had Tarangau House, Guria House, Kokomo Kouse and, of course, Muruk House - our four sporting houses. All named after birds (flightless or not).

But then again, in Sepik, a Muruk could also mean the chief Sanguma. Still recall what a Sanguma is?

[Barbara Short]

I learn a little every day! So a muruk is an idea, a tingting!
Thanks Keith for your help too.

Me mas tingting long dispela samting tingting. ..tik tik....me hop tingting i kamap!

[Icarus]

Yes, Phil, hard to ignore. A muruk is a big, mean, potentially dangerous flightless bird. It is valued in PNG where it's used in customary payments.

In the poem it represents a thought, an idea.
____________

Known in Australia as a cassowary - KJ

[Phil Fitzpatrick]

I think a muruk is something like an elephant in the room Barbara.

Icarus?

[Mrs Barbara Short]

Sori Icarus, me no save gut dispela poem.
Wanem dispela muruk?