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Foreigner Wants, and Wants

Global timesJOSEPH TAMBURE

Foreigner wants my mountain
That’s my hunting ground
Foreigner wants my river
But that’s my water to drink and wash
Foreigner wants my trees
That’s my firewood and timber for house
Foreigner wants, and wants more

Foreigner wants my swamp
That’s my fish and crocodiles
Foreigner wants my bush
But that’s my sago and kunai grass
Foreigner wants my minerals
That’s my sacred birthright
Foreigner wants, and keeps wanting

Foreigner wants my food
That’s robbing my family
Foreigner wants my labour cheap
That’s my choice, to or not
Foreigner wants my land
But that’s my very life
Foreigner wants, nothing stops

Foreigner wants business
That’s not what I want
Foreigner wants females
That’s my womenfolk
Foreigner dishes out cash
That’s a day’s worth
Foreigner wants more, and more
But what I want is to
leave me in peace

Comments

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Bernard Corden

Naravi Mogri Joseph,

Another good one.

The transnational corporate behemoths merely want profit and loss gets socialised by the merger of state and commercial interests.
Lemon socialism or socialism for the rich and capitalism for the poor.

Philip Fitzpatrick

Those last two lines are a bit clumsy I thought.

Maybe 'But what I want is for them to leave me in peace' or 'But what I want is to live in peace'.

Joseph is the latest of a couple of good poets who have appeared on PNG Attitude lately.

I think if ever there was a natural literary genre in PNG it's the free verse poem.

Michael Dom

Solid.

There are also those in the heart of our communities who are only too eager to give and give these resources for the benefits that the 'foreigner' flaunts.

Some of them we call 'lidaman'.

When will all people understand that this behavior is a total betrayal of our future well-being?

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