Written piece
Pacific Pulse - Yumi Wan/ We are one
Haddassha Grace Tabel
Papua New Guinea
About this piece
Original
This poem is a love letter to Melanesia.
A journey across its islands told through language, land and kinship.
English translation
This poem is a love letter to Melanesia.
A journey across its islands told through language, land and kinship.
It follows a voice traveling from Papua New Guinea to Fiji, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, and New Caledonia, calling each place barata (brother), wantok(wan language), poro (friend), and susa (sister). Each stop carries its own landscape and language, but all are held together by the ocean that connects them.
The heart of it is unity across division : despite colonial borders like the fence between Vanimo and Irian Jaya, the poem insists that Melanesians are yumi wan tasol (we are one). Tears, saltwater, song, and customs and traditions become the invisible bridge linking scattered islands into a single pulse.
It’s both deeply personal and collective. A gentle reminder that identity isn’t defined by borders, but by shared stories and ancestors. Some say our land masses are all divided but I like to think we are all connected by the same ocean not only in the Pacific but right around the world, WE ARE ONE.
Mama graun bilong mi
The sun rises slow over your rugged ridge,
Mist lightly draped on your jungle skin,
where children learn their world by the stories, values and beliefs their tumbunas built
An unseen bridge
of song and soil and kin within.
Mi pul canoe igo Suva, barata graun bilong mi
Barata
This land rests in coral light
canoes that glide on glassy blue
The welcomes are woven, warm and bright,
in every “Bula” said to you.
Mi kalap lo bikpela pisin igo pundaun Honiara, long narapla wantok graun bilong mi
Wantok
waters hold the night
like glass that mirrors stars above,
and island fires burn soft and white,
with legends spoken out of love
And you asked me how I was so I told you
“Mi gud tumas”
Mi raunim solwara liklik na narapla poro i pulim mi igo Port Vila
Poro
the earth drums low,
naked feet on dusty ground,
kastom roots where breezes blow
and banyan shadows gather sound.
“Yu hem yu taf tumas”
Narapla susa graun i singautim mi so mi burukim solwara ken igo long Nouméa
Susa
quiet, proud,
a French wind through Melanesian pines
I was worried about the future of my twin and you said
“Allez, casse pas la tête, on trouvera une solution demain”
Mama Graun i swit moa moa yet, mi go na mi stap namel lo solwara na lukluk igo long mama graun bilong mi, ol tok wanpla banis stap namel lo Vanimo na Irian Jaya
Yumi tupela i wankain
Yu twin bilong mi
Yu no narapela na mi eyewara na bel bagarap long yu
Eyewara bilong mi pundaun, wasim mi igo bek lo haus
Yu stap lo arasait na lukluk igo long solwara na tingim tasol eyewara bilong mi i osem solwara I strongim yumi olgeta
We are islands, scattered, free,
yet bound by salt and shared by shore.
One ocean cradles you and me
The pulse of the Pacific
Melanesia
Yumi wan tasol
English translation
Mama Graun bilong mi
My Mother Land
The sun rises slow over your rugged ridge,
Mist lightly draped on your jungle skin,
where children learn their world by the stories, values and beliefs their tumbunas built
An unseen bridge
of song and soil and kin within.
- Tumbuna = ancestors / grandparents in Tok Pisin
Mi pul canoe igo Suva, barata graun bilong mi
I paddled on a canoe to Suva, brother land of mine
Barata
Brother
This land rests in coral light
canoes that glide on glassy blue
The welcomes are woven, warm and bright,
in every “Bula” said to you.
Barata = brother in Fiji
Bula = hello/welcome in Fiji
Mi kalap lo bikpela pisin igo pundaun Honiara, long narapla wantok graun bilong mi
I flew fly on an aeroplane to land in Honiara, on another wantok land of mine
Wantok
waters hold the night
like glass that mirrors stars above,
and island fires burn soft and white,
with legends spoken out of love
And you asked me how I was so I told you
“Mi gud tumas”
Wantok = “one talk” — someone who speaks the same language, from the same place, kin. Pisin = bird/plane in Tok Pisin. Mi gud tumas = I’m very good
Mi raunim solwara liklik na narapla poro i pulim mi igo Port Vila
I sailed the sea a little and another friend pulled me to Port Vila
Poro
the earth drums low,
naked feet on dusty ground,
kastom roots where breezes blow
and banyan shadows gather sound._
“Yu hem yu taf tumas”
_Poro = friend/companion in Papua New Guinea Tok Pisin. Kastom = tradition/custom. Yu hem yu taf tumas = You are very strong/tough
Narapla susa graun i singautim mi so mi burukim solwara ken igo long Nouméa*
Another sister land called me so I crossed the sea again to Nouméa
Susa
quiet, proud,
a French wind through Melanesian pines
I was worried about the future of my twin and you said
“Allez, casse pas la tête, on trouvera une solution demain”
Susa = sister in Tok Pisin.
French: “Go on, don’t worry about it, we’ll find a solution tomorrow”
Mama Graun i swit moa moa yet, mi go na mi stap namel lo solwara na lukluk igo long mama graun bilong mi, ol tok wanpla banis stap namel lo Vanimo na Irian Jaya
Mother Land is even sweeter, I went and I stayed in the middle of the sea and looked towards my mother land, they say there’s a border between Vanimo and Irian Jaya
Yumi tupela i wankain
You and I are the same
Yu twin bilong mi
You are my twin
Yu no narapela na mi eyewara na bel bagarap long yu
You are not a stranger and my eyes cry and my heart breaks for you
Eyewara bilong mi pundaun, wasim mi igo bek lo haus
My tears fell and carried me back home
Yu stap lo arasait na lukluk igo long solwara na tingim tasol eyewara bilong mi i osem solwara I strongim yumi olgeta
You must stand on the other side, look to the sea and must remember that my tears are like the sea that binds us both
Vanimo = PNG town.
Irian Jaya = West Papua. Yumi wan tasol = We are one
We are islands, scattered, free,
yet bound by salt and shared by shore.
One ocean cradles you and me
The pulse of the Pacific
Melanesia
Yumi wan tasol
We are one