The giants are at it again,
measuring the world with their boots,
calling every place they step
a homeland.
America redraws the hemisphere
like a drunk cartographer,
shouting “ours” at anything
that casts a shadow.
They call it doctrine.
Everyone else calls it trespass.
China watches from the water,
silent as a tide,
building islands out of patience
and inevitability.
They don’t need to invade.
They just wait
for gravity to do the work.
And we ....
a green afterthought in the Pacific .....
pretend invisibility is strategy,
pretend neutrality is armour,
pretend the giants won’t notice
the soft ground beneath our feet.
But empires don’t see small nations.
They see resources,
runways,
votes,
and silence.
So we practise survival:
the art of not standing
where the boots will fall,
the discipline of smiling
without offering anything,
the ancient skill
of being present
without being claimed.
Because the giants
are rehearsing old wars
with new slogans,
and the only thing worse
than being their enemy
is being their example.
We know this.
We’ve read the footnotes.
We’ve buried the evidence.
All we want
is to avoid becoming
the lesson in their story.
[email protected]
16 January 2026