Listen to the world’s best poetry read out loud.
Tusitala
Tusitala - Selina Tusitala Marsh
Tusitala
“Tustitala”
teller of tales
that I never heard
till yesterday
born away
for another life
today
the tale I tell
is theirs and yours
a way of seeking
some more
of Somoa
of my sacred centre
today
the tale I tell
will book its way
through tongued histories
sanctioned mysteries
spaces of silence
timeless lives
“tala tusi”
tell the book
word the spirit of brown
in theory
in creativity
we make our sound
renowned
first published in Literature, Cultural Politics and Identity in the New Pacific edited by V Hereniko and R Wilson (Rowman & Littlefield, 1999), © Selina Tusitala Marsh 1999, used by permission of the author.