Custom - Grace Mera Molisa

Custom
is an English word
English
a confluence
of streams of words
is a reservoir
of every shade
nuance and hue
sharply
contrasting
Melanesia’s
limited vocabulary
supplementing

non-verbal
communication.

Inadvertently
misappropriating
“Custom”
misapplied
bastardised
murdered
a frankenstein
corpse
conveniently
recalled
to intimidate
women
the timid
the ignorant
the weak.

“Custom”
oft neglected
by non-conforming
advocates
the loudest
proponents
empty vessels ...

Theoretical
“Custom”
more honoured
in omission
than commission.

A word
sandwiched
between multifariously varied
traditional vernacular
and accidentally
occidental
franco-britannic
life and lingo
perplexed
by pandemonic
condominium
complex
Custom is
as custom does!

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Grace Mera Molisa (1946 -2002) Vanuatu
Source: Cordite Poetry Review