We wore our meri blouses
And on stilts built our houses…
We carried our bilums so beautiful
And custom dressings so very colourful.
We wore our island dresses
And displayed our art in richness…
We played our native string-band
And drew creative designs on sand.
We wore our dark sulus
And brown costumes not too loose…
We had high standards of fashion sense
And portrayed our crafts so immense.
We wore our shell necklaces
And a smile on our pretty faces…
We proudly exhibited our pan-piping
And were famous for our musical singing.
We wore our Caledonian dresses
And straw hats with leaves of freshness…
We spoke in our native francophone
And laid out our valuable money in stone.
So much vast diversity in culture
And numerous traditions needing nurture…
So much customs unique in many ways
Being revived and exposed these 14 days.
Though we were faced with many challenges
We have overcome for much further voyages…
PNG, Vanuatu, Fiji, Solomon & New Caledonia –
Still one and still celebrating the values and spirit of our Melanesia.
Saying her name
is a passionate verse
every dream is a lifetime
nights apart are a curse
Days are a daze
of stolen kisses shared
under tear stained skies
watercolor memories
Sleep deprived
by a compulsive vigil
senses soon succumb
and I am so lost
Drawn into this bliss
a surreptitious possession
wets natures appetite
and I feast eagerly
In smoldering need
a calling and craving
to touch and to savor
speak and be taken
She casts a spell
her alluring mystery
has decreed surrender
to this Melanesian diva.
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