Pacific Horizons

A bit surreal to hear voices saying “colonization” just as the car drops me off on the lawn outside classroom A-1 of
Pacific Horizons School.

It’s afternoon, The rain has stopped for a spell.

In the green humid air, voices fade in and out. As I enter the classroom, I see Mary Bordonaro,
teacher of the 7th grade creative writing class and her students discussing my work,
with images and poems from my website projected onto a screen.

…everyone should feel so welcomed!!! .

A lovely afternoon of laughter, sharing and writing, drawing on Mahmoud Darwish’s “I come from there” poem and
my “mera nam” choreopoem from the Good Manners which I performed for them.
 
Many of the students shared hand written pages​ as I left ​- folded and placed into my palm...I treasure them.

I​ was also r​eally blown away by the beautiful reception and the depth ​and nuance ​of the writing​,,,selections below.

         
           In response to the opening of The Good Manners….they wrote
 
The Hand movements moved through the wind
telling me a story, a vision
through the language of Dance
 
I tasted the whiskey that your Uncle drank. I saw the Land of India. Becoming free.
I smelled the cold dry musky wood pine air.
And in the church I smelled the smoky incense of the high priest.
 
I was amazed, mesmerized…
I smelled a scent of….unexplainable feelings.
Never have I ever…

As I dip my feet in water, I smell the scent of water
the feeling of cool water
the feeling of being calm
refreshed

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I come from there
the there that is dry
the there that is long and flat
the there that has roaring red mountains
And that there?
is there place I would like to be
the place of history at its finest or at its worst
the place littered with walk ways and heat
the place I was not born but the place I would rather be

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I come from a place
            with wonderful trees
            with a small little park
and birds that will sing
it’s a place full of love
where your heart can’t be sealed
I come from a place known as
‘Fairfield’
It’s filled with adults and filled with kids
I love it because “home is where the heart is.”
 
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I come from there.
I was born
unlike any other child. But my birth
mother gave birth to me there. A place of
disbelief, false, a place where I was left to
die. A place where I found a new home
in the arms of my newfound mother, she said
‘you come from somewhere special.’
 
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I come from there
a beautiful country called China
there are 56 nationalities there
and I’m one of them
over there it’s noisy in the morning
over there, it’s noisy at night
I mean
I don’t like quiet places
I love my country
for ever
 
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I come from there and I get flashbacks
flashbacks to my childhood
it was dark and gloomy
yet it was the happiest time of my life
 
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I come from there
where the horses run and the dogs bark,
where the leaves fall and the ice melts.
I come from there where the sun shines and the flowers bloom.
 
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I come from there
tall buildings and nice patterns
wooden and stone houses
clean glass and a farm
plants and animals
the taste of sweetness
and a relaxing feeling
I come from there
a place with my family
 ----------------

I come from there,
a place I call home, where peace is what I see, where is love is what I feel, I come from Fiji
 
I come from there, a small country over the ocean where beauty is in our name, where battle cry is in our blood and humans we once used to eat. I come from there an island called Fiji.
----------------
 
I come from China, a place where flowers grow, and happiness everywhere
with people spreading joy

----------------

I come from there
An island. That is warm. Humid and bright. With hundreds of birds that fly across the salty bay.
Where the beaches have many different colored sand.
Where the animals roam freely around the green, rainy forest.
I come from there. Where you can even smell the rain.
I come from there. Where at night the wind is clean fresh and cold. Looking up with thousands and more stars you can count.
And where the bats fly around the night sky.
And yes, I come from there.
 
Thank you, Shebana, for inspiring me to write, listen and learn
American Samoa, January 21, 2020