The years of Childhood have ended,
The constellation Rimwimata’1 is up in the skies
Twinkling on the whole island at rest
Laying in bed tossing and wakeful I waited for dawn
Ten-tere-koo, the early morning call of the cocks
This, the dawn of my manhood at last
To the eastern side of the island
To the baangota2 of heroic Ancestors I was taken —
Where the dewy winds blew
Where the waves struck mercilessly on the angry rocks,
Waters spiralled to Mone3 —the destination of my soul
Onto te b’a-te nari4 boulder I was installed with my
spear pointing eastwards as
I chanted the chant of a warrior—the meditation of
a rorobuaka5
To Auriaria
The Great Ancestral God of War
I asked for strength and courage
And my mauri6 from my enemies.
Ueantabo Fakaofo (20th century) Kiribati
Source: Pacific Islands Monthly Vol. 45, No. 12 (Dec. 1, 1974) [Trove]
- Antares
- Gilbertese shrine
- Undersea kingdom
- A hard, dense boulder
- Fullgrown man, a warrior
- ‘Safety’
Hi Bruce!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for your amazing blog!
I think it lacks some poetry from East Timor.
I've found some here https://southeastasiaglobe.com/poetry-east-timor-southeast-asia-globe/
Best regards,
Oleksandra
Thank you Oleksandra - I am always on the look out for new sources of poetry, especially from under-represented countries, so I will definitely follow up on this.
DeleteYou are most welcome, Bruce.
DeleteI am a poetry traveller myself. I was dissatisfied with my education. The Literature courses I'd attended focused mostly on Western authors, or Russian, or Japanese on rare occasions. So I decided to read and simply post on my Facebook page at list one poem from each country of the world following the alphabetic list. I do my best to find poems translated into Ukrainian or Russian as my 'audience' mostly speaks these languages. However, for many countries, such translations do not exist. So, I turn to English, and, when I am being especially lazy and not willing to scrutinize the sources myself, I just visit your blog and steal a poem from here :) So, I am truly grateful for all the remarkable work you've done!
I think I spotted your blog for the first time while searching a poem from Bhutan.
Probably, the most incredible experience about this poetic journey found me when I was searching for some poems from Russia. I found many poems from underrepresented peoples with rather small population. They have incredible cultures and mythologies. However, their languages and lifestyles are often on the brink. And it was an outstanding feeling just to find a poem from groups having just a few thousands of people or even less.
And I love reading poems from countries of which I've never heard before. Again, many thanks for making it easier for me on many occasions (and for my Facebook friends who come across a poem while scrolling).
Right now, I am covering the US poetry (in my Ukrainian list the USA goes right after East Timor).
Good luck with all your future endeavors! And thank you!
Thank you for your kind comments - much appreciated. I wish you well on your own poetry journey. Poetry can be a balm to the soul; it can also blow your mind :)
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