DAVID WAPAR
An entry in The Crocodile Prize
Kina Securities Award for Poetry
Mi save ting laif i olsem flawa
We i save soim kala lo moning aua
Tumoro, taim win na san i kam nau
Bai yu lukim lip blong flawa pundaun
Laif blong yu na mi mas stap amamas
Laif, laif, laif I sot tumas
Em bai orait sapos oltaim yumi amamas
Mi save ting laif I olsem mun
We I save kamap long abinun
Tumoro taim kilaut I passim
Bai yu tanim het long painim
Laif blong yu na mi mas stap amamas
Laif, laif, laif I sot tumas
Em bai orait sapos oltaim yumi amamas
Mi save ting laif I olsem win
Kirap long wes na I go long is
I sekim solwara na senisim ples
Tumoro ol I lukim na bai sekim het
Laif blong yu na mi mas stap amamas
Laif, laif, laif I sot tumas
Em bai orait sapos oltaim yumi amamas
Life is too short
Translation by Keith Jackson
I think of life as a flower
Showing its colours in the morning hour
Tomorrow, after the wind and sun,
You see the flower’s leaves droop down
Your life and mine they must be content
Life, life, life is much too short
And it’s good for us to be happy
I think of life as the moon
That rises in the afternoon
Tomorrow clouds are overhead
You look around and find it gone
Your life and mine they must be content
Life, life, life is much too short
And it’s good for us to be happy
I think of life as like the wind
Which comes from west and blows to east
Which whips up the sea and changes the earth
Tomorrow we look around and shake our heads
Your life and mine they must be content
Life, life, life is much too short
And it’s good for us to be happy