Old enough to be anything

The passage of peaceful practice down the generations

We reached out with health & received the old man’s blessing

I stand amidst a period of economic growth and a sense of hypocrisy
I feast from Australian aid and yet still thrust to steal
I labour the resources from the land and drink from the sea
I devour the owners’ dues and still whine I do not heal

What is your name? Papua New Guinea
Do you have a surname? Yes, Christian country
How old are you now? Old enough, I’m forty
Where do you come from? The Pacific ring of fire

Sons and daughters quest in sports and politics
National and Post gossip about me back to front and back
I wear red, black and gold but never in black and white
Does Sunday ring a bell in your ear?

Why is that your pride reaches Mount Wilhelm?
Have you ever heard of Oh arise, reporter?
I “shout again for the whole world to hear”
Why? Coz waitman and konkon give me kina and toea

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