Coda
You will remember us, will you not?
Do us this much, as you pass us by on this wild, Pacific evening,
As you carry your rifles and cameras and wounded,
From isle to isle, tip toeing through archipelagos, through graveyards,
Hoping to not step on our skulls as you pass over.
...
You will remember us, do us this.
We peek out from the slits of buried, wooden homes you borrowed,
Interest accrued, rent ignored, hosts unappeased,
As the next island, the next front is found in feet and inches,
As feet stick out from sand, moved past over time.
...
You will remember us, you owe us this much.
For emptying our wells, and entrenching our beaches,
Your toll for our atoll shall pass along,
To those who come after your gunships with rowboats,
Wondering where we have gone.
...
You will remember us, as you shall all your sins.
In burning memories like the burns you deserved,
Like the burning crops, meagre wheat,
In proportion, barely enough for a Company,
But barely enough for us.
...
You will remember us, for all you have done.
While you would like to ignore, to focus on your pains,
Wounds cannot compare to scars,
While you scamper for pity, for aid, for blame,
We have no mouths to beg.
...
You will remember us, to this you are sentenced.
In the Long Court of your Long War,
Longer than any crime ever before,
This verdict, unwritten, shall be carried down,
And shame to all those who ignore!
...
~Published Anonymously, likely a Pacific Native displaced during the Second Pacific War
Many thanks to MORTheDivineBeing, TitanFire999, and MMBrowsing for reviewing this Arc.
What follows will be the last arc.