Sailing through the Straits
Watching the sun disappear, behind the distant islands
You see a glow of mystery
The feelings of innocence and isolation,
In a world that has been forgotten
And suspended in time.

But, slowly the outside world intrudes
Bringing its new ideas
And poisoning the new generation's minds.
The young with their business suits, trendy clothes and new ideas,
Bring in the outboard motors, canned foods and guns,
Easier and easier life becomes,
Lazier and lazier the man becomes
More time he has to sit around,
To drink and drink his money away.
Oh, what recreation shall I do today,
Bash the wife up, for fun and games.

We should sit and talk to the old.
As they recall the times that have gone,
You see the glow of happiness in their face,
As they yarn of the time of their youth,
With their dances and kupa-muris,
The friendship and closeness,
Of time that seems ancient to the youth.

The beating drums disappear with the sun,
Less and less we see the dances,
More and more we see the alcohol
To preserve the dying culture,
We must make the time to sit and learn
To talk to the old
Because if we do not,
As the old die,
So does a culture that will never by captured again.

Please cite as: Bann, R. P. (1988). Winds of change. Queensland Researcher, 4(2), 5. http://www.iier.org.au/qjer/qr4/bann.html