‘Custom’

I often find myself returning to this poem. It’s by Grace Mera Molisa (Black Stone, 1991). It’s probably controversial, and it obviously doesn’t present the complexity of custom, and it’s somewhat negative…but I still like it…I like it aesthetically and it’s a bit of a touch-stone for me to come back to when people are challenging me about my “right” to be writing on the issues faced by Melanesian women when I’m a white woman.

If it were about my own experiences, I’d change “Custom” to “religion”.

‘Custom’

misapplied

bastardised

murdered

a Frankenstein

corpse

conveniently

recalled

to intimidate

women.