Life is Death
(to Kuovatisi)
The Bible
The Bible says that life begins with Death.
Death is the doorway to eternal life.
Every soul enters Heaven or Hell in strife,
through the shadowed gate of Death.
The Garden of Eden
At the beginning of Time,
the good God made Man from dust,
his hands stained with the clay of the newborn earth.
The good God gave him lions and lambs for companions,
birds that painted songs across the sky,
and rivers that glittered like liquid silver.
He gave him orchards heavy with fruit,
their branches bending beneath sweetness.
He gave him the comfort of Heaven,
where no leaf withered
and no shadow carried sorrow.
Yet the man was restless.
His heart wandered through the garden
like a lonely wind among the trees.
He longed for a companion
whose voice could answer his own.
So the good God laid him to sleep
beneath the shade of eternity.
From the ivory curve of his rib
He fashioned the first woman,
breathing life into her
as dawn breathes colour into the morning sky.
The Man was content.
As Woman came into his Life.
Death
As Woman came into Life,
Death came to the Garden.
There, beyond Eden's radiant gates,
stood a silent stranger veiled in darkness,
its icy hands resting upon the walls of Paradise,
waiting with endless patience.
It had no voice,
yet all creation would one day hear its call.
Then came the Woman,
companion to Man,
and though Death had long awaited its hour,
history would place the burden of the Fall upon her shoulders.
The Snake
Among the emerald grass
slithered a serpent,
its scales gleaming like pounamu,
beneath the sun.
Life was about to be chained to Time.
Time stood waiting.
Death stood waiting.
The Woman stood waiting.
And Temptation moved among them
like perfume on a warm evening breeze.
"You shall be like God," it whispered.
Fearless.
The keeper of all knowledge.
The healer of every wound.
The beginning and the end.
The Alpha and the Omega.
The fruit hung from the tree
like a crimson heart pulsing with desire.
Temptation was too beautiful to ignore.
The serpent coiled around the woman's thoughts.
The woman reached for the fruit.
The man followed her hand.
And together they tasted eternity's forbidden sweetness.
Outcasts
Our first parents,
the Man and the Woman,
were driven from Eden.
The flaming sword of an angel
blazed across the entrance,
burning brighter than a thousand suns.
The good God spoke judgment.
The woman would bring forth children
through rivers of pain.
The man would feed his family
with sweat that fell like rain
upon stubborn soil.
The serpent would eat dust
and drag its belly across the earth forever.
And so our fate was sealed
beneath the turning wheels of Time.
Life and Time
Time wrapped herself around Life
like the serpent around the Woman’s throat.
There would be time
for laughter ringing through the valleys.
There would be time
for tears falling like rain upon graves.
There would be time
to sow seeds into stubborn soil.
There would be time
to harvest golden fields beneath autumn skies.
Everything was measured.
Everything was timed.
The sun rose and sank.
The seasons bloomed and died.
The faces of children became the faces of elders.
And at the end of Time,
Death emerged from the horizon,
like a tsunami wave swallowing the shore.
It gathered kings and beggars alike,
carrying them beyond the final sunset,
to Heaven
or to Hell.
And so, at the ending of Time,
Life begins again.
Mepa Taufa-Vuni was born and raised in Tonga before migrating to New Zealand in 2007 to provide her children with better educational opportunities. She is pursuing a PhD at Massey University, where her research examines Pasifika students’ and parents’ perceptions of the most effective practices for supporting Pasifika learners in mathematics.
Mepa is a proud mother of five children, aged 3 to 27 years. She is also a devoted Glamour/Kui to her two beloved mokopuna, Baby Lopeti and Baby Siaosi, who bring immense joy and inspiration to her life.
