literary
« Previous EntriesThe World, Alas
Sunday, October 18th, 2009The world, alas, is far too rushed to ever tell the truth.
Parts of a Rumour
Sunday, July 19th, 20091
this is only evidence
the rattling that betrays
a flock of sparrows
in the branches of a barren shrub
gathered
and pressing the stems
like a small cold wind
the rattling that betrays
a cat in a dry rose bush
collected like parts of a rumour
2
there are no petals
on a wet black bough
no apparition to blend
these two mysteries
that I found your love without looking
is [...]
Bislama Bons Mots
Sunday, May 31st, 2009In Bislama’s most common usage, the laughing, chaffing repartee that punctuates our daily exchanges, it’s good-natured, inventive and cheeky, strikingly similar to the bawdy discourse in a Dublin pub on any given Friday.
My point – and I do have one – is that visitors ignore the nuance and linguistic flair inherent in Vanuatu discourse at their peril. No one can truly say they understand Bislama until they’ve grasped its vividly metaphorical, highly contextual fluidity and made it their own.
The Devil at our Shoulder
Saturday, May 23rd, 2009Anybody who’s opened a newspaper in the last few years will recognise the characters and events portrayed in 40 Dei, Wan Smolbag Theatre’s latest stage production. Smolbag’s greatest gift to us is its ability to show us our own world. The play is populated by the same reprobates, righteous hypocrites, prostitutes, politicians and just plain folks as we find in any neighbourhood in Port Vila.
We all walk with the Devil at our shoulder. Without surrendering to dogmatic, moralistic finger-wagging, 40 Dei confronts us with the knowledge that the most insidious enemy to Vanuatu society lies within it, not without. Until we recognise that there are no easy answers to the complex afflictions of a society in transition, until we accept that prostitutes, prisoners and penitents alike are all our family, until we recognise our own weakness in the face of venality and ambition, we will never completely be whole.
In the words of the immortal Walt Kelly, “We have met the enemy and it is us.”
Winter
Tuesday, April 21st, 2009I wrote a slightly different version of this for my friend Tracy when Chris died, years ago now. It’s a mild variation on a villanelle, a song form first used in 16th Century France. It’s simple, sentimental and true.
It should really be sung, acapella, with a slowly moving melody reminiscent of Cathedrals, by Jump Little Children.
I found myself searching for something to say when Tracy wrote to tell me that a mutual friend had died, unexpectedly and far, far too soon. This is what came out.
It’s for John, and for all of those who knew Shannon.
A Plausible Man
Sunday, November 2nd, 2008Outside the hotel the city was black, reflective. In the lobby, a Miles Davis number quietly contemplated heroin. The whole town was in fugue. Rain before and snow to come; nothing now but cloud and calm.
Aidan stepped out smartly as the Jetta rolled up.
Tales of the North Atlantic
Friday, October 17th, 2008[Originally published in the Vanuatu Daily Post’s Weekender Edition.]
Tawi blong mi;
I write to you from the enthralling, magical island of Manhattan. This jewel of the North Atlantic is a marvelous place. It is visited by all the races of the world. They are drawn by its legendary abundance and wealth. Here, one can achieve one’s [...]
Au Péché Mignon
Monday, April 14th, 2008[Editor's note: The author was afflicted at the time of writing with a pinched radial nerve, which has led to chronic pain in his right hand. As a result, he has left off his normal florid prose to write in the concise 'telegraphic prose' of the young Earnest Hemingway. We apologise for the inconvenience.]
[Editor's other [...]
On Being Right
Thursday, February 28th, 2008A number of recent events have given me occasion to consider what it means to be right.
Viewed through a rationalist filter, humanity can manage itself well (if not easily), provided its curiousity remains strong and its faculties of discernment are not tarnished. This assumes, of course, that humanity as a whole is [...]
SMS From the Bislama
Friday, April 27th, 2007 SMS from the Bislama
GOODNIGHT TAWI SORRY
TO DISTURB I WANT
TO TELL YOU ONLY
THAT EVERYTHING IS
STRAIGHT
With apologies to Elizabeth Barrett Browning