Thoughts of the Sepik – PNG 2007 by Anne Goulding      

While navigating the Sepik

     lifeblood of the north

One cannot help but think about

    this world of another sort.

A quiet, verdant and beautiful land

    of jungle , birds and mountains grand

This land is like a virgin queen

    waiting to fulfil her special dream.

The people of the Sepik

    live as they always have done,

Making baskets, carvings and other wares

    while their children play in the sun.

They cut their sago and fish the river

    content with their lives whatever the weather.

They live in harmony with their land

    and also with one another.

The children canoe and fish and swim

    they are always on the go.

Not for these children

    the lives that our kids know.

Computer addiction, playstations, the Net and

    schooling for the dollar they must show.

No sunlight touches their white skin

    while obese they get.

The children of the Sepik

    know no other place.

Their lot is in the village, and

    in time their parents they’ll replace.

We cannot say what’s right or wrong

    for these ancient tribes.

Perhaps they are the ones

    who truly know how to live their lives!

Anne Goulding                                                               March 2007