Here is a heartbreaking poem, an elegy to all the beautiful islands in this world, that we will soon lose along with cultures that inhabit them. 

The poet, Grand Dame Jane Resture was born of Tuvluan/English/French and Micronesian descent in the Republic of Kiribati.  She is currently writing her Memories of Oceania book which records her life growing up in the islands of Oceania - Republic of Kiribati (Micronesia), Tuvalu (Polynesia) and the Solomon Islands (Melanesia) and details how the cognitive development of the growing young island woman is interlinked with the many facets of a complex island culture.

She has received two knighthoods in recognition of her contributions to education and the preservation of the rich and wonderful Pacific Island cultural heritage. A PhD in Anthropology with a specialization in Pacific Island Studies, Ms Resture also promotes the music of the islands to a worldwide audience. “Music is an integral part of life on the islands of the Pacific. Indeed, the songs and dances are woven into the very fabric of everyday life. Life, love, work, play, the ocean, the gods, the earth itself; they all flow through the music of the Pacific Islands, as surely as the sand erodes into the sea. Pacific Island music is truly the music of the world…”
OUR PEOPLE ON THE REEF 

A Poem by Grand Dame Jane Resture

The swaying palms, the gentle surf lapping upon the sand
A gentle breeze so keen to please slowly gusts across our land
Our island home is all we have known as centuries rolled by
Our island people stood alone on reefs so barren and dry.

But as years go by we wonder why the shoreline is not the same
The things we knew as always true somehow do not remain
The breakers break on higher ground - the outer palms are falling down
The taro pits begin to die and the village elders wonder why.

For what is happening to the beautiful isles we know
Tuvalu, Kiribati and Tokelau - the Marshall isles, that place of smiles
The rising sea will reclaim our ground - nothing but water will abound
 Our people forced to leave for higher ground.
 
While far away they pour their fumes into the clear blue sky
Not knowing and never caring why the world is beginning to die
So land of our forebears despite how much we cared for you
The time will soon be when we must bid you adieu.