Skip to content

Scottish Poetry Library

Register/Sign in
Shopping Bag Shopping Bag
Bringing people and poems together
  • Home
  • COVID-19
    • Re-Opening FAQ
  • Poetry
    • Poems
    • Poets
    • Poetry Ambassadors 2020
    • Best Scottish Poems
    • Podcasts
    • Poetry and Mindfulness
    • Our National Poet
    • Posters
    • Publishers
  • Library
    • Become a borrower
    • Catalogue
    • Collections
    • Ask a librarian
    • Copyright enquiries
  • Learning
    • National Poetry Day 2019
    • National Poetry Day archive
    • SQA set texts
    • Learning resources
    • New to poetry?
    • Advice for poets
  • Events
    • What’s On
    • Venue hire
  • Shop
    • Scottish Poetry
    • Poetry Pamphlet Cards
    • Pocket Poets
    • Scotland’s Makar
    • Help
  • About us
    • Our story
    • Our people
    • Our projects
    • Jobs
    • Our building
    • FAQs
    • Find us
  • Support us
    • Become a Friend
    • Donate
    • Easy Fundraising
  • Blog
Shopping BagShopping Bag
Ask a librarian
  • Home
  • >
  • Poetry
  • >
  • Makerita Va’ai
  • >
  • Rains of Nauru
Donate Donate icon Ask a Librarian Ask a Librarian icon

Rains of Nauru

Makerita Va’ai

Rain, symbolic of a loss
of friend or foe
an ally or enemy
a chief or commoner
a native or foreigner
plagued by death
signifies a blessing
willed by the departed
anointing the land
providing water
to aid
abundant growth
showering prosperity
for loved ones
left behind.


Makerita Va’ai

from Pinnacles (Suva: Mana Publications, 1993)

Reproduced by kind permission of the author.

Tags:

loss Nauru possibility rain signs

About this poem

This poem, representing Nauru, is part of The Written World – our collaboration with BBC radio to broadcast a poem from every single nation competing in London 2012.

Share this
Facebook
Twitter
Email

Learn more

Makerita Va’ai

Makerita Va’ai grew up in Samoa and New Zealand, where she attended high school and taught for a year before returning to Western Samoa. She is a graduate of the University of the South Pacific, and was a founding...
More about Makerita Va’ai

Newsletter

Sign up for Scottish Poetry Library\\\'s regular email newsletter.
Subscribe now

Join

Become a Borrower or support our work by becoming a Friend of SPL.
Join us
  • Newsletter signup
  • Accessibility
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
Scottish Poetry Library
5 Crichton's Close, Canongate
Edinburgh EH8 8DT
Tel: +44 (0)131 557 2876
© Scottish Poetry Library 2021.
The Scottish Poetry Library is a registered charity (No. SCO23311).
City of Edinburgh logo Green Arts Initiative logo Creative Scotland logo
By leaves we live

The Scottish Poetry Library is staffed weekdays from 10am – 2pm and is providing a limited service including postal loans and Click & Collect. For details, click COVID-19 in the menu bar above. Dismiss