star language

 

you are now an usu

one of the brightest

my eyes squint

to see you

nanmadau o

beyond the reef

 

you were fearless

you men of the ocean

usually are

trusting the currents, wind, birds

smell of the rain

schools of fish

comforted by danger

home in the quiet isolation

of vastness and depth

 

my friend says her fisherman

goes to see the mermaids

you left your little atoll

for volcanic Hawaiian Islands

barely speaking English

you went

 

who needs language

when your mind expands the Milky Way

when you still dream as your ancestors did

when you sail alongside those first voyagers

only your people from outer islands of Yap and Chuuk

kept this sacred knowledge

sacred

your people never forgot

words mean little

with such manaman

 

did you know you were holding the light?

it was your usu Nainoa and so many others would follow

it is your usu up there that I see

at Matariki, here in Aotearoa

this lonely Micronesian thinks of you

 

 

 

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