Whole Islands Without You

At first the stories were told by our Pupus;
Then the images we saw on Television.
Confused and amused were the expressions on our faces.

We thought to ourselves;

How sad they must be; they play with fire and fire devours them.
Little did we know, it would appear on our doorsteps

And we understand very little,
From the wisdom of our Pupus.

One day, it came to us like visitors;
Then we became family.
Did we know that our lives will be affected?
By trusting our shores with their goodwill donations?
Strings attached, we do not know;
But little by little, they took our islands,

One by one.

The bombing of the atoll islands;
Next our forests are being logged.
Our lands are taken from us,
And our oceans are seen as dollars to them.

We do not want your money or your fame!
We do not want to be a slave in your game!
Get out of our shores! Get out of our land!
We are stronger without you;
And we are whole islands without you.

Our islands are our family;
And the land is our Mother.
Our ocean speaks Peace;
It connects us to each other.
All we want is our Sovereignty;
To live in harmony with our nature.
Without being colonized;
From the mountains to the Seas.