NO REST FOR THE AWAKE - MINAGAHET CHAMORRO

The term Diaspora can be tricky, even if it is something that I use regularly and work with and around regularly, even more so during the pandemic.  The Chamoru diaspora used to be a divide. A fairly sharp divide where Chamorus on the island side were fundamentally different than those who were from the stateside. It would come about in an avalanche of anecdotes that could be heard from both ends of the Pacific. Chamorus in the states would complain that Chamorus on Guam were two backward thinking and stuck, not progressing and not advancing. Despite often very similar problems in their own areas in the US, they would speak about things like government corruption or inefficiency as if they were Guam-brand products and certainly didn't exist in the land of Olive Gardens and Costcos.  Chamorus from the island would speak about those from the states as if there had never been a tribe of people more stuck up and full of themselves. For everything back home, there were stories about how

Celebrate Freedom, Liberation and Decolonization, Join Independent Guåhan for its 5 th  Na’lå’la’ Songs of Freedom Concert on July 4th   For Immediate Release, June 27, 2021 –  Since 2017, each July Independent Guåhan has hosted a free concert,  “Na’lå’la’: Songs of Freedom.” This event is a chance for the community to connect to conscious and empowering messages for social change and decolonization through music, poetry, art and dance.  Independent Guåhan invites the community to tune in Sunday, July 4th from 7 to 9 pm on KUAM TV 8 for “Na’lå’la’: Songs of Freedom Vol. 5.” The concert will also be livestreamed on KUAM News’ Facebook page.   This year’s concert is a collaboration with Tåhdong Marianas, an up and coming collective or artists, musicians, scholars and activists that is dedicated to the promotion of music and storytelling from the Mariana Islands. Artists to be featured this year are: Microchild, Ma’lak Mo’na, Jonah Hånom, Rachel Esteves, Sinahi Benavente with Pedru Blas a

Mad Boy's Love Song (After Mad Girl's Love Song) I close my eyes and the world drops dead The curtain of blackness falls, blanketing a cruel reminder that I think I made you up inside my head You as a thunderbird is all I see roaring, splitting silence Trailing behind you twinkling smiling newborn stars thatform a shower up above In your afterglow, I hear the stars trickle down the blackcurtain of a world dropped dead I feel them fill the lines in my face, finding their way into the strings that tie together my life, dripping along and spiraling deeper and deeper until my every moment becomes bewitched When I lift my lids, all is born again, but now water-colored with you instead  The straining of my grocery bags, is the crinkling of your skirt The scratch on my car hood, follows the curves of your leg   Every bump in the road, is my eyes tracing the tempting lines of your fingertips The red of the shampoo bottle, glistens with the faintness of your lips White sheets of paper,

Kada diha mamomokkat yu’ gi este na tåno’ Nina’homhom ni’ malamaña na halomtåno’ Bula trongko guini, lao labula triniste Labula chinatpågo, labula pinadesi   Sesso sinekkai yu’ ni todu este Kulang råmas, kalaktos kånnai Ginen i mantaklalu na trongko siha   Tåya’ deskånsa, tåya’ fanliheng’an   Lao kada diha anai tumunok ta’lo i atdao Ya mahuchom i ha’åni Linemlem yu’ ni oriyå-hu Sa’ kada nai i tai’ase na somnak Ha dingu i tano’ Ha na’lå’la’la’ lokkue’ i flores gi hatdin-mu   Ya ginen i hinemhom na halomtåno’ Hu tattitiyi ayu Esta ki humuyong yu’ Gi halom i hatdin-mu Bula flores Mannina’dokko’ nu i puti’on siha gi hilo’-hu   Ya guihi lokkue’ guaha såddok Ya i hanom-ña kulang bino Ya kada hu galamok, nina’malulok yu’ Ya nina’maigo’ yu’ lokkue’ Gi mañaña yan maipeñaihon na chå’guan

"Glass Kiss"   I can taste the ocean between us As I step towards you, it wades against me, salt stinging to my skin Your eyes are set, chained to the horizon Reminding me that I find it hard to breathe when you are not looking at me You are whispering something But it is lost in the wind, as if drowned quietly in the spiral corridors of a seashell As you turn and see my approach The ocean sighs, waters parting, revealing the heart of the world As I pull you to me, I gasp, as if searching for the land’s last breath When our lips meet, the ocean pours into the earth’s core Cooling every heat filled moment I have shared with you The sky trembles, lightning piercing all And you are forever mine in a sea of newborn glass

"Blue" I’m trying to find something she left, A kiss that has long been taped to my mind It was left there long ago, by someone who had no business inside my skull But found her way there, during a sweaty afternoon, complete with grass stains and sword cuts that stretched like clues on puzzle pieces from her limbs to mine At one point that kiss was an itch, a scar carved upon my memories, that blocked the flow of daily traffic, always taking my thoughts through detours towards that afternoon, when without a moment’s notice, she planted that kiss upon my life I would spend days taping, rock hammer rapping at the side of my skull, splintering bone and feeding air to that starving scar. Desperate to keep it alive, to force feed nourishment into the scar, to keep it crisp, to keep it breathing, humming, dancing between life and death.  But I simply write around that kiss. As I reach into my skull, digging for that scarred memory, as my own irritated bone tears into my finger fles

The past few weeks have been filled with nothing but whales for my work.  ********************   For Immediate Release September 11, 2020   SENATOR MARSH (TAITANO)’S PUBLIC HEARING TODAY ON ACTIVE SONAR, WE DESERVE THE SAME PROTECTIONS FOR OUR MARINE MAMMALS AS HAWAII AND CALIFORNIA   More than 20 marine mammal species are found in the waters surrounding the Mariana Islands, including some that are considered to be severely endangered such as humpback whales. Our waters are significant breeding, birthing, and resting grounds for numerous species. At the same time, studies have shown that the US of active sonar in military training, such as the type that takes places through the Marianas by the US Navy, has a detrimental impact on marine mammals. For example, scientists have determined that there is a 90-95% correlation between the use of naval active sonar and the stranding of beaked whales on our shores. Because of these negative impacts, Senator Kelly Marsh (Taitano) introduced Resol

I once had the experience of being in a short, intense and confusing relationship with someone for a single month. Desde gualafon asta gualafon. From full moon to full moon, we fell in love and then I watched as she, following the phases of the moon, disappeared into the darkness of the sky and rapidly fell out of love. It was a strange experience because it felt deep and felt real, but then disappeared, out of my grasp like trying to catch the moon or its light between finger-lengths.  At the end of that bewildering experience, I wrote this poem, trying to take stock of what had happened, but also somehow hoping that with the changing of the moon again, she might come back, and the light that lit up her face and the sky might return. It did not.  *********************** Pulan Kada puengi  Anai hu atan hulo’ gi langhet Ya hu li’e’ i pilan Bai hu hahasso hao Ya bai hu na’hasson mamaisa yu’ Na hunggan i pilan yanggen tumaigue Guaha triniste gi tinaigu

For each Inacha'igen Fino' CHamoru, the Chamorro Studies and Chamoru language faculty at UOG collect or produce a handful of creative and expressive texts in the language. These texts are used as part of the competition for these categories, Lalai (chant), Rinisådan Po'ema ( poetry recitation) and Tinaitai Koru (choral reading). Students have to memorize and then recite or perform these either as individuals or as a group. For the longest time, there wasn't a lot produced creatively in the Chamoru language. Most of it could be found in terms of music, as Chamorus were making songs, releasing albums and performing. Much of the publication and promotion of Chamoru could be found in the church, but little of it was creative. Much of it was translations of things written elsewhere in the Catholic universe and localized to Guam. In this way, the church preserved words and meanings in Chamoru, it helped teach and propagate the language, but it wasn't a venue for Chamoru

Guaha meggai na tinilaika gi på'go na såkkan. Meggai nuebu na siniente-ku ya guaha na biahi kulang machuchuda' enao siha gi sanhalom-hu. Fihu anggen taiguenao yu', ya-hu sumotta sina gi tinge'-hu, kolo'lo'ña betsu pat po'ema siha.  Todu i tinige'-hu guini put guinaiya. Sa' ma'pos un eståba na guinaiya yan manaliligao yu' nuebu.  Estague i betsu-hu sina, ni' hu tuge' gi halacha na tiempo.  ****************** Mungga masukne yu' Nåna na ti hu na'funhåyan i tarehå-hu Sukne si Yu'os Sa' guiya muna'fanhuyong Ayu na palao'an ******************* Tumutunok i pilan Lao olahan moon Na mana'påra i tininok-ña Ya ti hu fåkpo' Este linangitan na råtu Nai hågu gi tinektok-hu ******************** I mangga gi hilo'-mu gi trongko achamames yan i labios-mu I puti'on siha gi langhet gi hilo'-mu manachagefpågo yan i matå-mu I pilan gi hilo'-mu gof takhilo' achafinu

One passage that has long stayed with me in terms of understanding ethics is from one of Slavoj Zizek's books, where he mentions the Egyptians being swallowed up by the Red Sea as they trail the escaping Israelites. According to Jewish tradition he writes, when the Israelites celebrate the death of their long-time enemies, God chastises them. He tells them, how dare they celebrate that which he created. Who are they to celebrate the destruction of something that comes from God. Even if they were opposed in the drama of life on earth, they come from the same source and they have right to celebrate something which is equal to them in its origin. This type of repositioning is the basis for many types of ethical engagement. The idea that there is always some deeper level, some deeper intersection of humanity that we can and should appeal to in order to create something that is more just and more moral. But we can become so comfortable in our identities, so stuck in them, that it

The image is from Suicide Cliff in Tinian, where a collection of memorials for those who died in World War II can be found.  The text below is the English translation of a poem written by Rinko Sagara, a 14 year old student from Urasoe in Okinawa. She recited it earlier this year at an event meant to remember the victims of the Battle of Okinawa in World War II. It's title is "Ikiru."  ******************** I am living. Standing on the earth transmitting the mantle's heat, My body embraced by a pleasant, humid wind, With the scent of grass in my nostrils, My ears tuned to the distant sound of the surf. I am now living How beautiful this island where I now live is. The sparking blue sea, The shining waves releasing spray as they hit the rocks, The bleating of goats, The babbling of brooks, Small paths leading through the fields, Mountains bursting with green colors, The gentle tunes of the sanshin (three-stringed traditional instrumen