(to Professor Selina Tusitala Marsh)
haka to haiku poetry. bones beating
drums stretching skins in the
geometry of cemetery. facial art
not cosmetic but the cream of creation.
fire-power-lines’ cremation. phoenix
from ashes. abhor-regional/ yet
incorrigible. original and aboriginal.
the lyricism of shakesperience.
queen salamasina’s oral
performance. cross-polynesian
tuvalu. synthetic yet not polystyrene.
poly-millennia creative. noun without
relative or related adjective.
salute warrior poet!
*Poem occasioned by Professor Marsh’s appointment as Commonwealth Poet Laureate
Mbongeni Khumalo is a BBC Global Minds panelist as well as the author of the poetry collection apocrypha