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Eti Sa’aga (1950-2017)

[Courtesy photo]

Another buddy bites the dust. Aging, it seems, is measured out in deaths. But a life goes on in the memories it leaves behind. I remember Eti the bon vivant, Eti the original Apia hippie, Eti the bongo player, but especially Eti the poet, Eti the Samoan Beat bard. No one gave a better, more entertaining poetry reading. He had no fear of sharing his emotions.

Going through his poems I have here, I found a short old favorite to share, quintessential Eti:

            Birthday Present

            It was the eve

            of the new moon

            that my daughter

            gave me a pebble

            for my birthday.

            It was gift wrapped

            with tiny fingers,

            sticky with mango juice.

Rest in peace, uso. Your memory is a happy one.