Tribewanted: Vorovoro

sunrise with orange eyes
across our village creation
the kriss-cross of tribal traffic
tread sands of celebration

earth oven fires the chosen
beasts and rooted crop
slashes of smoked light
carved by giant leafy drops

bamboo boys walk on water
to base sound of hollow shell
a hymn before a beach
skims on the turquoise swell

o ya! mai na van du
sulu jaba girls all wrapped
pretty the path to chiefly seat
sway and swing like tidal laps

tanoa turns and receives
pounded root and rain
squeezed juices of time
silence poured to sunlit refrain

then held aloft in sweaty palms
tooth of whale on roughen rope
cries an impassioned tongue
shrill voice of thanks and hope

green leafed line moves as one
forward reach two dozen arms
in arcs and throws their stories
dance beneath the smiling palms

grateful decorations from
fringes of a shaded throng
hung around necks and hearts
wave after wave – we belong!

into the day its zenith passed
fed and watered a life now carved
sings and shouts its time is now
of passing cups to non-stop laughs

a halo hangs and gazes upon
the half-mooned haze below
one hundred passengers found
within this neon-fringed glow

at night the music soars
the dances fly free
like phosphorescence
sparkling streams we see

the morning breathes heavy
tanoa tears flood the sands
all are held and move again
down the line of hearts and hands

by boat and bus and plane
we make our final way
from a place its hard to leave
time must sing its last isa lei

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photos by J-Dub