Tuesday, November 29, 2011

A Flower and Poem



This awesome flower is growing outside my house. It made me think of my favorite poem by a Tongan writer. I have this poem taped on my front door. It reminds me that the people I work with here may see the world differently than I do.

you say that you think
therefore you are
but thinking belongs
in the depths of the earth
we simply borrow
what we need to know

these islands the sky
the surrounding sea
the trees the birds
and all that are free
the misty rain
the surging river
pools by the blowholes
a hidden flower
have their own thinking

they are different frames
of mind that cannot fit
in a small selfish world

-Konai Helu Thaman