"Really proud to have a poem of mine represent my homeland, Tonga, at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland. Always in wonder about these games growing up but I’m not an athlete, so I’m humbled to participate as a poet. Big thanks to my friend Andrea Eimke in Atiu who helped me record, Jean Melesaine who took time out of her busy schedule to take my photo, and my sisters Fuifuilupe Niumeitolu and Amelia Leafaitulagi Niumeitolu, who encouraged me to post this on fb. Many thanks to Nick Balneaves of BBC. and a Big Shout Out to Tongan poets!" Loa Miumeitolu http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p022wt52
Tonga: Loa Niumeitolu
WHEN WE TELL
By LOA NIUMEITOLU
I know English was brought
by White people to our country.
But when WE speak it,
when we slur that language like sinews
of vine floss extracting our teeth,
grind it with coral and ironwood in our mouths,
When WE tell of the gritty taste
we’ve got to have a Tongan way
of doing it.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p022wt52