​A boundary drawn in salt and ancient wood
Island in Bay of Bengal where time just stood
They dive for fish where shallow coral gleams
And weave their world from incessant dreams.
​On day arrives a modern boat across the blue
Bearing an alien faith that islanders never knew
An evangelist steps down onto the sand shore
Believing he could bridge with words of grace.
​To them, the vessel brought no saviour, holy light
Instead, a dark omen breaking through the night
They fired iron arrows from their wooden bows
To keep the island hidden from the world it knows. ​
No cross was raised, no foreign word took root
The beach remains untouched by modern foot
The Sentinelese hold their silently carved throne
Fierce, uncontacted, and yet beautifully alone.
Note: The verse is written in the context of an American evangelist missionary John Allen Chou traveling to the North Sentinel Island in November 2018 intending to contact Sentinelese tribal people to convert them to Christianity, and in the process meeting his nemesis at the hands of hostile islanders.
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