Pennines

It was a struggle up Great Mell Fell today.

Preoccupied by events in Vanuatu and the influence of my aunt - I was fortunate enough to spend a short time there in my early 20's. It was the first time I came across Pidgin English - the sign for the ferry from the more technologically advanced main island said 'You wantum ferry. You prestem button' - the sign on the much simpler nearby island that the ferry went to said 'You wantum ferry. You killum gong'. It was the first time I learnt of cargo cults and the frankly bizarre worship of the Duke of Edinburgh. I remembered the present of an LP of exotic African Stories that enthralled me. I remembered the encouragement to leap from the Famous Five to Evelyn Waugh's 'Decline and Fall' ... at about 12 years old! I remembered an abiding interest and love of literature and culture.
I came across the following poem by the poet Grace Mera Molisa from Vanuatu ...

Black Stone by Grace Mera Molisa

Black Stone
Molten lava
solidified.

Solid
jagged forms
starkly
awe inspiring.
Black Stone
flowing free
from depths
unknown
a viscous form
coagulated.

Jet black
sleeping fortress
weather rock
come wind or shine.

Black Stone
hard
and obstinate
indelible
solidity.

Black Stone
bird of wealth
solid bedrock
dwelling of death.

Eternal essence
of immortal soul’s
steadfast fixture
founding Man’s
physical cosmos.

Threshold
of the spirits
transfixed
to the stable
equilibrium
of constancy
and permanence.

Black Stone
immovable
immobile
Black Stone (8)