Previous Story
LITERARY NOOK
T.O.A.S.T.: Tinian Officially A Super Time
Tinian Pika Festival Daze
Two weeks before Pika Fest I have to
cut and chop plenty tangan tangan trees
to roast plenty lechon babuis
a few days before Pika Fest I have to
pumupeska para bai bula ayuyu
the first day of Pika Fest who did I see
old Tinian maestro, poet Joey Connolly
that night who was looking at the moon
out on the cliffs? It was Pepe Batbon
next night si Pepe got todudo bulacho
driven home by his kutzu Joe Camacho
at the gayera he bet on the ‘side short’
and won forty dollars I’m happy to report
Hatch vs. Perkins my guess at Tinian Pika Fest.
“I loved to trudge the windswept ridge…
I walked in simple solitude: unknown I lived my fill.”
—J.C.L. Mellersh, on the Cotswald Hills, England, 1933.
At Tinian’s Southern Cliffs
Alone I sit under the Milky Way
Where Tinian’s southern cliffs meet the sky
Alone I gaze at stars far away
Jets and satellites pass me by
I love to walk along the cliff road
And watch the moon and planets rise
Hearing waves break on rocks and explode
As darkness comes and stars fill the skies
The Teakettle pours out its Milky Way stream
‘Cats Eyes’ gleam at the end of the Fish hook
Planets Jupiter and Saturn light up the ocean scene
Orion shoots meteor showers and I get a quick look
Oh that I might go tonight again and walk
Where Tinian’s southern cliffs meet the sky
The Milky Way messages in celestial chalk
Remind me of the years remaining before I die.
Joey ‘Pepe Batbon’ Connolly (Special to the Saipan Tribune)
Joey aka Pepe Batbon is a retired educator who taught in the CNMI, NOLA, and LVNV. He is a sonnet practitioner who enjoys stargazing.
