Best Tonga Poems

A transgender child
does not not exist 
just because a white man 
says that that is so
as two spirited
third genders 
and others
(eight in the Talmud! that I didn’t know)
exist around the globe
as in the
hijra of India
fa’afafine of Samoa
burrnesha of Albania
quariwarmi of Peru
guevedoche of Dominican Republic
muxe of...

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Teaching by Immersion
(A poem for my dad…)

When I was young
On the tiny island of Tonga
My dad taught me to swim
“Swim”
He said as he threw me 
From the back of the boat

As the water closed
Over my head
I felt
Free
I wasn’t afraid
I knew I could hold my breath...

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I’ve sorted spuds at Cora Lynn, picked asparagus at Vervale, 
Cherries in the Dandenong’s, beans on the Thompson close to Sale,
I’ve picked apples out at Labertouche and made a tidy quid,
But I’ve never picked an orange, and it’s time I bloody did.

I spoke to Billy...

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Tropes On My Island


To go to Tonga like this had not been my plan

Recommended though it was on the lonely planet

Om mantras were now my only companion

Planting seeds in my inner world and mind

In the interest of survival fire rubbed from sticks

Condensation separating salt from...

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Zambezi's strength rules
who can harness our river?
electricity from water?
Nyami, Nyami

Kariba Dam damaged
by six decades of water
the Tonga tribes celebrate
Nyami, Nyami

May 10, 2022

Joseph May's contest on Naani.

Two naani of 24 syllables each
current statements about currents

When the Kariba Dam was built on the Zambezi, the Tonga people...

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Crickets play and sing wildly
mowed fields full of grain.
A sultry summer day is behind us.
The dough of summer heat sticks to my bare breasts.
It is impossible to fall asleep.
*
My queen.
Down the moonlight, you descend.
You enter the room through the window
with those magical eyes that say...

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Alison Alligator eating artichokes on a ant hill,
     watching
     Beverly Bear floating on a cloud over there,
     which developed a leak,
     drenching
     Charlotte the twin...

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I was a prominent theoretical physicist, relying upon beautiful mathematics,
Like devout gardeners everywhere, rely on butterscotch sunshine dramatics.

Rose days were spent inventing theories, to address pure astral phenomena,
And testing the raw theories, such as what causes far-off, supernova trauma. 

The indescribable thrill of discovery, imbued...

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There was a place that is no longer
It was somewhere between Spain and Tonga
People there only lived to dance
Until they all fell into a trance
Because they had forgotten how to conga...

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Nestled under blankets,
the gentle whirring sound
soothes the savage beast
within mine body electric
of one generic, opportunistic,
and wholistic garden variety man.

Within blink of closed eye
yours truly transported
into the realm of deep sleep
benumbed to reality as unconscious guy
experiencing dynamic vivid dreams
courtesy Fluoxetine Hcl
(C17H18F3NO·HCl)
known as Selective
Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor (SSRI),
especially...

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Lulled to sleep courtesy white noise of the fan

Onset of first 2023 heatwave
found yours truly lulled to sleep
courtesy rattle and hum
(U2 can dreamily tread 
where the streets have no name) 
of oscillating fan.

Nestled under blankets,
the gentle whirring sound
soothes the savage beast
within mine body electric
of one...

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Thursday, December 31, 2020 signals conclusion of latest leap year

Whether alphabetized, digitized, 
homogenized, marginalized, satirized... place names
from "A" to Zaire
Thursday, December 31, 2020
signals conclusion of latest leap year.

The Pacific island of Tonga first
to ring in New Year 2021
glad tidings dispersed
celebrated at 10 AM GMT December...

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Evangelist, Pastor, Musician, Composer, extraordinaire
The Philippines, to
Israel, Greece
Turkey, Tonga
Alabama, to Maine
Fullness of heart
Fullness of spirit
Fullness of mind
Hers give not receive, offer not demand, love not deceit, prayer
Unfamiliar faces
Not knowing places
Staring into spaces
Peter's hands she graces
Oh mother of mind
Return to me
And free me of my bind
Decisions...

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I will wander like a gypsy seeking wisdom,
I will find it in each little knowledge system;
Each hair of beauty I'll split like a small atom,
And find in them the secrets hidden like stratum...

The world has wondrous places resembling heaven,
Like Bocas, Ha’apais, Tonga, Ya’mon or Devon;
Sailing...

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Fishery 


He is a fisherman from Guiana
doesn´t do Tonga, but the sea is blue.
His face is a map of America.
He fishes sharks (not Hemingway)
one of them took his arm.
Vengeance is mine, said the lord.
Crap !!! He says
and set red sail for China....

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