The Silent Thread Poem by Mereia Namatua

In the heart of Fiji's sun-kissed land,
A shadow moves—gentle, quiet, unplanned.
Not loud like the storms that lash the reef,
But deep, like whispers wrapped in grief.

HIV—it wears no face,
But it touches lives, leaves no trace.
A mother. A brother. A friend unseen.
Carrying stories left between.

Yet hope is not lost in fear's disguise,
It glows in truth—in open eyes.
Point of contact—one gentle test,
One moment to breathe, to lay fears to rest.

No waiting rooms of endless dread,
Just answers, care, a path ahead.
No shame in knowledge, no guilt in light,
To know is to fight, to live is our right.

So break the silence, tear down the wall,
Let every village, every hall—
Echo the truth, bold and strong:
To test is to care. To wait is wrong.

Fiji, our strength is in unity,
In testing, in truth, in community.
Let love be louder than the lies,
Let courage bloom beneath our skies.