I am a customs dance

By George Baddeley Borugu

My name is ‘Solo’, I am the king of my people, My slaves fear me When I am in action.

I am very powerful, My slaves encourage me To go into action.

But I am rare; Often I only fight On special days.

When I was young And my slaves were young, They obeyed me.

They encouraged me To go into action Now most of my strong And beloved slaves have gone.

The earth has swallowed them.

Though many still remain by my side, Only a few still love me, Only a few still accept me as their king.

They act in foreign ways; They no longer encourage me into action.

I no longer fight On the days I used to.

Most of them hate me And despise me; I am sick of what they are saying about me.

I am getting weaker and weaker; My power is getting less and less As the years go by.

Soon my powers will come to an end And my name will no longer be heard Though I was once a great and powerful king.

Two more striking creations from villagers along the Sepik River in Papua New Guinea (four examples appeared in the May issue). Above, Demon figures from a design incised on a bamboo lime container by Aklyas Rase of Kambot village. Below, python and birds by Kiri Namat, of Kambaramba village, who was taught traditional art by his father in Rabaul last year. These are two of the examples collected by Helen Dennett, of Angoram, who plans to include them in a book of 150 designs to be published by Wirui Press, Wewak.