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Volunteering in PNG - Fifty Years On (A Poem)

Updated on January 23, 2013
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Bronwen was a teacher for over forty years. Degrees include School Librarianship, Psycholinguistics and Theology, and Applied Linguistics.

Anticipation

Sentinel dreaming and guarding the way;

Brilliance of reef and of somnolent day

Uniting to welcome as years flee away.

Beauty created the Creator display,

Brighter than memory, more poignant than gay:

Half a century has fled since I first passed this way.

Tiny Island in the passage between Fergusson and Normanby Islands
Tiny Island in the passage between Fergusson and Normanby Islands | Source

Arrival

The same and not the same:

The wharf is still there, but needing repair,

The bush has receded, track fixing's needed,

Loved faces are gone, but warm welcome goes on

Filling the spaces as my heart retraces

Familiar haunts along the track, looking back.

Next morning, what joy! A High School boy

Hits well the same old war-bomb bell

And as it reverberates 'round hills and playground

A kingfisher of brilliant hue fills my view.

For the past, a tear, but now as volunteer

I hasten to prayer, as local leaders there

Begin the day in the very best way,

I must not shirk, so now to work.

Early morning visitor
Early morning visitor | Source

Looking Around

One evening, and tropical evenings are brief,

When work was over, yet the lights not on,

I climbed a steep hill, at the top, found relief:

A gentle light breeze; green mountains led on

To beautiful Dobu and islands around

While below in the valleys dark jungle I found

But an old rough cross leaned closer at hand

And I stood and thanked God for this beautiful land.


Row of volcanic plugs behind Salamo, Fergusson Island in the D'Entrecasteaux
Row of volcanic plugs behind Salamo, Fergusson Island in the D'Entrecasteaux | Source
working

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