In a forest of clouds 
where the rain falls in the shadow
of majestic snow-capped mountains
high above the jungle floor, 
an unknown world lay hidden.

In this plush green wilderness 
where birds of tropic colours fly
the Korowai were perched upon 
the trees in huts of sago palm
built with tools of stone and bone.

One hundred-fifty feet of stairs
hung among the jungle vines, they climbed,
man and woman, child and dog and pig,
to float above the floods, and keep
sorcerers and tribal foes at bay.

But then one day a giant silver bird
flew above their treetop homes
and soon the strangest creatures came,
with skin white as the mountain tops,
to change their world forevermore.

Treasure hunters came to dig the earth
for gold and silver coloured rocks 
and suck the lowland dry of its black blood,
while lumber kings with fearsome dragons
moved in to take the trees away.

Their presence quelled the warrior spirit
of tribes that used to wage attack;
the highest, wartime huts could be vacated,
but new, unseen attackers came,
there's no tree tall enough to fight disease. 

And life the way they knew it changed
in the blink of one gigantic global eye
when progress trampled through the jungle
and forgot to pay attention to 
a twentieth century stone aged man. 
 


june 2004
 
The Korowai tribe live in the jungles 
of Papua New Guinea (Irian Jaya), 
and were only discovered about 25 years ago.