Category: “The Wings of Home” (Poem)

As I fly away into new terrains, a part of me remains

The moon reminds me of your warm embrace

My heart yearns to swim in your waters 

Your ocean is my safe space. 

In my mind I wonder

Did my ancestors who left home feel the same? 

I reminisce as images of home become a source to meditate 

Lying on the beach with coconut oil on my skin

The sun burning against me like fire with free will

So painful yet lovingly I could stay here till I’m ill 

Like a home cooked meal that warms you with thrill

I close my eyes and take it all in 

This might be the only place I can lay like this

Listening to the crashing of waves from the outer reef

And the dancing and swaying of different leaves 

The scent of salt and earth surrounding me 

Its these memories of you that pour down like peaceful rain 

When I lie in my bed far far away

Looking to the stars to take away my worries 

I fall asleep and

My heart beats with the crashing of waves

Leading me back to you in my dreams 

The night sky binds me to your soil and seasons

A part of nature astray connected through

The milky way 

My roots are grounded in your wisdom

To care, to grow, to cultivate

I am woven with the sand of my motherland 

My home is who I am 

MDR

I know my great grandma is here because the chesisebangiau told me.

I looked outside and all around me to find her but couldn’t see.

Except for the grave where her body rests

Underneath the chedebsachel tree.

And the veranda where she used to sit 

Where she would share her wisdom 

Telling stories of her simple beginnings

Washing her mouth in coconut oil 

And her hands in a water basin.

Her summer house where she made makit

Her living room that used to be a convenience store.

Her clothes hangers in the yard dancing with the wind

Her rain water tank that filled up basins for us to shower.

Her betel nut, coconut, and banana trees 

Her pink flowers that still grow 

Despite her no longer here.

Her scent of white flower on my grandmother

Her mumus passed down to us

The closest we’ll get to a hug

Her beauty framed on the altar

Her life left us the most loving scar

“Please take me with you”

I said to the chesisebangiau

I just want to see her, hear her, hug her

Feel her near 

She has always been my strength 

But the chesisebangiau kept flying around me

Telling me there is no void. 

She is here even beyond her pictures and polaroids

Don’t worry the chesisebangiau continues 

You hear her every day 

In the wind the trees, the songs and the silence

You see her in your nieces, sister, mother, and gardens

She never left 

And in your heart she will always stay 

It is true I feel her presence in each passing moment and every single day

The chesisebangiau then flew away and one day returned

This time I smiled and said thank you for visiting 

me again and reminding me of the truth. 

MDR