“I want you to walk

Like you are the keeper, the seer, and the sorceress

Like you are the vaka, the rip, and the crystalline compass

Like you are the Princess of Pāua

And the embodiment of your grandmother’s dreaming"

Tusiata is the sophomore poetry collection from Danielle Kionasina Dilys Thomson. This book was written for the daughters of the diaspora; the maidens of many migrations; the princesses of pāua. Tusiata is a true account of a teine Sāmoa smacking the streets of Aukilani, and swimming all the way home to the shores of Apia. She is an invitation to talanoa with your whole self, your ancestors, and the oceans that birthed you.