Ode for the late Joachim Kombut
01 March 2023
SIMON DAVIDSON
My Manusian brother, Joachim Kombut,
Educator, daring thinker, author,
You dreamed big & achieved your literary dreams.
You connected with the God of Heaven,
The Poet of the Universe,
And in your book and poetry,
Let the language speak to the people.
You played an irreplaceable role,
In the healing of the world,
In a life of teaching, modelling.
Yesterday morning, I received the news,
Of your untimely passing from this life,
Death has stolen your earthly presence,
Death has deprived us of your genius.
Death, the terminator and mortal foe,
Invaded Sonoma’s beautiful campus,
And captured forever one of our own.
The chilling news of your untimely passing,
I heard from Elder Kara’s trembling lips,
‘You two are our writers at Sonoma.’
Then I felt my own precarious mortality.
The imprints of your deeds and noble life,
Are etched in the many students you taught,
Engraved in the moral footprints you left behind.
Your family and friends will grieve you sorely,
Sonoma’s family also feel your loss,
A teacher’s loss is a loss to our nation;
An author departs our literary world.
The times that I visited your office,
Brief chats and literary dreams to share,
Remain impressed on my mind, remain a treasure.
By your life of service as a teacher,
By your dedication to the written word,
You made the world better than you found it,
A proud triumph for your family and tribe.
Brother, sickness and death have stolen life,
But rest assured in Christ your saviour,
Until the resurrection morn.
Vale brother Kombut.
Dad, I'm missing you now. Also now I understand the concept of death and also the redemption plan through Christ - despite your physical absence.
You have brought me up in a way to accept and appreciate your going. You had foreseen your going before it happened. That's the beauty of your death. God Yahweh had revealed to you.
You were talking about it but I didn't understand it. I was interpreting it in this reality and not the other. But now I realise.
Seeing life from God's point of view, I am perfectly broken. The past is all memories while the future is a matter of faith. I know you have gone but your faith is living still Daddy.
Rest in peace and see you on that golden morning.
Posted by: Michael Kombut | 15 March 2023 at 08:53 PM