This is my analysis of the poem:

 

The poem “I’m not sorry any more” written by Kali Vatoko and Albert Leomala is about the inequality being portrayed between white and black.

 

The use of language in the poem is powerful but powerless at the same time. Kali Vatoko was trying to express the grievances through the poem. When Kali Vatoko used “You wait whiteman” and “I’ll kick your arse” to directly given vent to his/her anger. This is the way to show Kali’s powerful voice but the powerless voice also been portrayed when Kali says “I bow in sorrow” and “I haven’t got a chance”. This is the way to show that Kali did not have the power but Kali wanted the power to be treated as equal as white at that time. This is possibly why the poem seems to be more aggressive due to the fear and the hate of white, also the hate of being powerless black and had no strength to fight back.

 

The use of “So what” in the second stanza is really intriguing when the questions come to “who owns the New Hebrides or Nouvelles Hebrides” and “Who is black or white” does not matter to Kali Vatoko. Because it is equal to Kali, people should not fight over for it. In the last stanza, Kali, later on, explains it again about he belongs to the land and how Kali equally loves the New Hebrides and the Nouvelles Hebrides. It is like Kali will not reject the New Hebrides because he/she is from Nouvelles Hebrides. Same to the white, they should not treat black as slaves just simply because they are born as white. Again, everyone should be treated properly and equally.

 

 

 

My creative response:

 

I am the boss 

 

I am the boss

That's right 

You are the servant 

You ain't doing things right

I ain't going to pay

 

If you want money 

You got do what I ask 

I ain't care what color you got

I ain't care anything about you

 

You ain't going anyway

Because I say so

You ain't saying anything

Because I say so

You listen 

I am the boss

I am paying you

 

You want to catch me

Go ahead

You want to kick me 

Go ahead 

But why not now

Oh right 

You ain't the boss 

You got to do what I ask

Because I am the boss

And I will always be

 

Reflection:

My creative response is basic in the poem by Kali Vatoko and Albert Leomala. I can totally relate to this poem, not only because of the racism but also the inequality in the job position. I can feel author's anger and I am angry as well. My poem is not to aim at the author or anyone. It is just I want people to think. Are you doing the right things? Can you treat people differently because of their skin color? Can you treat employees badly because you are the boss? Because you are paying them, it does not mean you can disrespect them. I feel like people should be more genuine and generous to people who have a different color or lower position in the job. Everyone deserves better. In the begging, I was going to write my creative response to some kind of prose instead of a poem. But I think the poem can be more related and I can more easily to portray my message. I was going to write my response as like what the author did, maybe to write it as like I am the black. But after few times writing, I thought it will be more meaningful if I write it as I am the white. Because readers tend to take the aggressive message out. The poem by Kali Vatoko and Albert Leomala is really powerful and aggressive, but the readers are more likely to feel sorry for the black. I don't want readers to feel sorry for the boss, that is why I wrote my poem as the boss's point of view. I want the readers to take the boss's role in the poem instead of the victim. In this case, people will read it more carefully and they will think about the human rights of the employee. Employers are not supposed to do whatever they want to the employees such as sexual harassment, this actually happened to me once. I wanted people to take it seriously.

 

References:
Albert, W (1980). A Pacific Anthology. Ed.