All men are born heavy.
We do not inherited this weight
But seize the heaviness of the earth
Upon ourself.
Obligations and connections one can not ignore.
I am not yet light like you.
Floating from place to place.
Uncannily light so that you may travel
To even the moon and back.
Travel refreshes the eyes
But it is my heaviness -
that prevents lunar travel.
To ignore what roots me to the ground
would be to act falsely light.
But you are truly rootless.
Born lighter than a feather -
how can you be so unnatural?
Unlike you, I will have to earn my lightness.
But even then my body will still be heavy
But not lightless.
Enda ta boka translates to heaviness of the earth.
This poem is based on my brief study on the Orokavia people of Papua New Guinea conception of 'lightness' and 'heaviness'.