Pacific Lament: A Century's Passage

I’d gotten used to them; taken them for granted. They filled my beaches: powerful, natural, naked and raw—like me. I gave up my treasures…shells for their adornment, food for their mouths, waves for their play. We worshiped Sol’s rays by day, felt Luna’s pull at night, reveling in Mother Nature’s order. Where are my people? Replacing gentle canoes, big boats rape my waters. I am littered and trashed. Once, my carpet of sand was filled with song, dance and celebration. Now, upon my shores stand a covered people, ashamed of their forms, adamantly proclaiming “The Word of God”.