SENSE OF YOU
Ah Tongatapu
Moko memories
Tattoed on my senses
You are
The fragrance of Tokonaki fires
earthy, pungent
swirling tendrils skyward wend
Offerings of appeasement
Pre-Sabbath atonement
Transgressions neatly piled and burned
Cleansing flames - shriven souls
Mate atu, ara atu
Siale kahoa
Lovingly lei-ed
Nukunuku’s bounty
Sensual sweetness
Musky magic
From cream to gold to burnished brown
A lingering bouquet
Namu lelei
You are
Beribboned, bedecked urupa
Festively festooned
Black garmented mourners, bereft
Suffering the loss
and the heat
A survivor’s penance
You are
Sparkling children in Sunday best
The saliva-inspiring smell of fresh-baked bread
Laughing eyes at a witty jest
Lunch money lawmen
Kai lelei
On Sapate
Marvellous mouth-watering morsels
Night comes gently here
And as I drift away the breeze
One last reluctant caress offers
To still my sticky thoughts
While through the dark floats
Secret moonlit masculine voices
Singing
Kava & fellowship-inspired serenades
To one unknown and unsought
But soothed
To sleep
Po malie
Po marie
Glossary
Tongatapu – main island of the Kingdom of Tonga
Moko – Maori tattoo
Tokonaki – Saturday the day of preparation, food is harvested/purchased, homes & grounds are tidied waste foliage is burned
Mate atu, ara atu a paraphrasing of a Maori proverb about the cyclic nature of life
Siale – gardenia
Kahoa – garland
Nukunuku – a village in Tongatapu renowned for it’s Siale
Namu lelei – smells good
Urupa – Maori word for cemetery
Kava – a ceremonial drink, narcotic properties
Po malie – Tongan- pleasant, good night
Po marie – Maori- peaceful, restful night
Vila’s Market
They sit
These women
Vacant-eyed
Harangued by the man at the makeshift pulpit
They consider
Tomorrow’s money-making possibilities
Bunches of bok choy
Pairs of pampelmousse
Clusters of coconuts
Floats kept safe beneath their buttocks
As perched on plastic cracker bins
They rest
And prepare
For tomorrows as unforgiving as today
