Where Are We?

WARDLEY BARRY

In a forest of tall trees riding on waves of
Gentle hills, an old man in tangets swings an axe;
Inside towering skyscrapers on squeaky desks
A young man (suits, ties, shiny boots) is signing checks.

Lines of sweat trickle down the old man's sun-baked skin,
The tree groans, among tweets of jolly birds, and falls;
The deal is sealed and the young man reclines beaming
— it’s a lie, but he has kids to feed, bawds to call.

As this mighty warrior kisses the hearth and sings
Sacred songs to tree demons and tumbunas,
The lawyer clicks remote controls, and greedily
Gobbles meaty doughnuts and uncooked bananas:

We are here now,
But where are we?

Old women trudging home, bilums after bilums
Upon their heads, pressing down and crunching their backs;
Pretty girls with polished nails and pink miniskirts,
Flashing, flaunting and flexing their soft, squishy sacks.

Mamas and papas, pupus and pikininis
Dance to garamut rhythm during moonlight feasts,
While young girls in nightclubs ride poles and shake booties,
Selling their bodies to men they’ll later call beasts.

As mamas lie down with children tucked in their breasts,
Talking to wantoks in the sky and dreaming dreams,
Wet girls stagger into hotel rooms — legs must be
Opened wider when opportunities are slim.

We are here now,
But where are we?

Comments

[Wardley D Barry-Igivisa]

I am grateful for PNG Attitude being a platform where issues in the country are discussed.

I'm hoping my friends here will find in themselves the motivation to write and have their works published on Attitude or other similar blogs. I hope they get to read too what others have written.

Again thanks Keith. It's always humbling to see my poems on Attitude.