This poem describes a very visceral experience I had to reconcile how fragile my own stage of privilege was. The poem captures a hypothetical where a lady notices poverty, between the alleyways, the exact moment her own privilege is realized, causing her to scurry away in guilt. Alleyways, for me, represent a darker side to the urban environments - as places where things happen in the shadows. It occupies a particular space within popular urban colloquialism as being dark and seedy.
Category: Creative Writing
#72 Poetry – For her.
I initially wrote this poem with a friend of mine who was suddenly admitted to hospital. It evolved as a co-written poem and, indeed it still is. I drew from her experience. She allowed herself to be vulnerable.
#70: (Rain)Drops of Anxiety
Pitter-patter, on roof tops. Rain drops, in down pipes. Pitters of patters slipping, falling. Violent in motion, rushing, gushing, into alleyways - be banks, on streets. Carry raindrops, to drain pipes. Labourious is torrent - be rivers, like Styx. Keep tame, my wild heart. The memory of pitters of patters. The violence of wild water, … Continue reading #70: (Rain)Drops of Anxiety
#68 Tok Pisin Poetry: Where Have All The Bataflais Gone?
Where Have All The Bataflais Gone? Lo’ citi* ol igat olgeta samting Lo’ citi ol i no sot lo wanpla samting Igat rot, igat wara, igat kapa haus Igat lo, igat stoa,igat haus sik na skul Pulim ol man meri i lusim bus giraun ikam Pulim ol ikam sindaun lo' bikples taun Na lusim ol … Continue reading #68 Tok Pisin Poetry: Where Have All The Bataflais Gone?
#65 Poem- Empty Streets
Empty streets, When a tower rises. Empty Streets Where towers rise. Cast tall shadow Upon tall shadows. Hiding reasons from Reasons being. Taking space; Making of empty. Void of place. The streets are empty. -Hans Lee
#64 Is Port Moresby About To Come Alive?
Port Moresby is transforming very quickly into a multicultural city and I don't simply mean the many Papua New Guineans already there. There are a lot of new people joining our city with new ideas.
#63: Walking the Tropics is not at all pleasant.
I’ll enjoy driving my car in the tropics, even through I know it will be the death of me. At least I can get from my deathbed in the suburbs to the work fields without breaking a sweat while I am still alive.
#59. Right To The City
A controversial poem I wrote as areflective piece challenging my own place in embedding inequalities in PNG cities. Whether we acknowledge it or not, the urban elite merely just "being" are creators of inequality.
#58 Dear Pom Siti Road Vendors
Originally Published on Twitter: Dear Pom Siti Road Vendors, Thank you for the smuk na buai. The kulau. The galip nut. Na peanut. Thank you for the deer antler. The Nius-Pepa na GoGo Cola. The 6 ft mirror. Steering wheel cover, Dark Specs na Air Freshner. Always and forever, Stuck'n Traphic
#56: Bosmeri
A poem about PNG women challenging engrained assumptions. They contend with gender and embedded assumptions about race.