top of page

Excerpts from “FIRE in the BELLY”.

​

THAT VIEW (Chapter 1).

​

In my manuscript Fire in the Belly, there are two differing opinions of the magnificent view from Taliligap, New Britain. Kim is an Australian farm boy on agricultural secondment…….

​

From a slight elevation Kim looked past the landscaped gardens at a vista of plants and people and buildings and tracks all clinging tightly to steep slopes leading down to Blanch Bay and Vulcan island.

​

He squinted at a puff of yellow smoke that marked the location of Matupit where the airport was built on a volcanic overflow that reached out into the bay like a poisoned finger.

​

He remembered a scary landing some months before.

 Kim asks Albert (native agriculture officer) what he sees when he looks at the view………….  

I see food in the trees and fish in the bay. I see great numbers of slings in coconut fronds

and swards of kunai grass invading old gardens.

I see fire in the belly of the earth that killed many of my wantoks on Vulcan Island and my ancestor spirits all through the land.

ALBERT’S POEM (Chapter 21).

​​

You are a new-born child so much anticipated,

You have awakened in my heart a love unbounded,

You are a silken sea in this wide ocean of life,

You are more scintillating than a starlit sky at night,

You are the warm wine that I mull over before swallowing,

You are the delicious fruit that I drip onto my chest,

You are my friend the sun who says farewell each evening

And greets my every morning with a glowing charm,

You are my hopes and dreams and inspiration,

You are the shadow in the doorway waiting for my return,

You are the stars, the universe and worlds beyond,

You are infinite and wonderful, and all I ever dreamed of in this land.

Coming Soon....

bottom of page