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Whether it is "Redefining literary techniques and devices", "Justifying Papua New Guinea Literature", or "Translating the Bible into Anuki", these offer valuable reading for the paperless student of literature, and indeed the best sort of literary entertainment you can get out of Papua New Guinea. Check them out either on Soaba's Storyboard or The Anuki Country Press.

Sunday 23 May 2010

Who is James St Nativeson?

The question has been asked innumerable times by people who have read the poetry of this writer. The Anuki Country Press suspects that that writer in the history of Papua New Guinea litrature would be as mysterious as M. Lovori in Albert Maori Kiki's Ten Thousand Years in a Lifetime or Russell Soaba's own novel, Wanpis, in which we read of a certain Jimi Damebo writing poetry. Close enough. Steven Winduo in his book of short stories, The Unpainted Mask, mentions this poet briefly. But here are two poems attributed to James St Nativeson and which appear in the Writers Forum of the Weekender in The National newspaper of Papua New Guinea.  

King of the Mountain  

Many moons went by  
Since we heard that song 
"De king of de mountain cometh"  
And we went about our daily chores  
Oblivious to cholera and other threats  

We concentrated on what to have  
For breakfast or dinner  

Then suddenly, this note from de king himself:  
"Your bills, dear citizens: K5, 000.00, ahem;  
For de corn I gif you K3, 00.00; for de  
Peanuts, I gifs you K2, 000.00 - ahem;  
But I gifts you discount, so you pay  
Only K2, 000.00... ahem..."  

Come on, king of Moresby Mountains  
That ain't no good business.  

Waiting  

I am waiting  
For the bus I heard  
Would be coming round this way.  

Three miles down the road  
I see no movement  
Two miles uphill  
I see no one and no motorists  

For many hours I stood here, waiting.  
Whisper the cicadas at sunset:  
There are no buses In the Anuki Country.

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