I~land, Vanua**

Island as if I is land,

For island people of Fiji

No separation with “Vanua”—

The Land and the people at once

I~land

Communal tenders of shared earth

People Tethered to this land,

this land tethered to people

I~land

This island as if umbilical chorded

Born, living and burying here only

Burying afterbirths umbilical chords here

Island as if I is land, land is I

I~land

How when the waters rise

May they not drown with the land

How when the waters rise

May they not wail as a newborn cut

From the umbilical chord

thrust into an alien elsewhere-world

I~land

Island as if I is land,

For island people of Fiji

No separation with Vanua—

I~land

**What is Vanua?

Loosely defined as community,Vanua is physical in nature and is also abstract – “a theoretical whole that embraces all people and their relationships with others and with the land, spirits, resources, and environment”