from sounding lines

Craig Santos Perez

 

 

begin quote

' (glota) time at

origin end

quote i

atfabeton begins

a, å, be, che,

mark time

at destination

[north : lagu]

sound lineage

de, e, fe, ge,

is present tense

first light

[east : kattan]

of roots begin

quote stolen

lands and letters

buried [south : haya]

he, i, ke, le,

remember just

quote departure time

[west : luchan]

endless arrivals

me, ne, ñe, nge,

end line echoed

o, pe, re, se,

who narrates

the end of

present tense

te, u, ye

sanhalom

 

 

~~~~~

Craig Santos Perez is a native Chamoru from the Pacific Island of Guåhan/Guam. He is the co-founder of Ala Press, co-star of the poetry album Undercurrent (Hawai‘i Dub Machine, 2011), and author of two collections of poetry: from unincorporated territory [hacha] (Tinfish Press, 2008) and from unincorporated territory [saina] (Omnidawn Publishing, 2010). He is an Assistant Professor in the English Department at the University of Hawai‘i, Manoa, where he teaches Pacific literature and creative writing.