Hawai‘i Literature & Art
— Since 1978 —
Dang Bamboo Buckaroo, sometimes I think life would be a whole lot easier without his persistent over-the-shoulder ”help”, as when he reminds me that sometime back in the early days of BR history some hopeful wannabe poet wrote several one-hundred-words-even sonnets but when called upon to produce them was unwilling or unable and thus can…
A hundred words, like a hundred anything, is a large-enough quantity to command respect without trying too hard — just hard enough. How much harder would it be to fit those hundred words within a formal model, say a sentence, a paragraph, or a sonnet? It should not take superabundant imagination or wit to write…
ON HE RODE — Chapter Fifty Lucky for us, there is a rear exit leading directly to the parking lot. “You drive,” I tell Mary. “This is your kuleana, your territory.” “What? Me and losers and crazy people? If you want my advice as an almost-certified professional, just stay away from all of it. You’ll…
It’s kind of amazing how fast I start feeling normal by starting my day in a neighborhood among normal people who prepare to go normal places and do normal things. And how good and normal “normal” can feel. Do Kerouac and Kesey feel normal? Would they feel normal tooling around Boston behind the wheel of…
ON HE RODE — Chapter Forty-Eight In the meantime I’ll take advantage of what must be the most comfortable seating accommodation anywhere, the first five miles of riding any Greyhound or Trailways cross-country hauler. It never fails, ever. The first thing I sit down I can’t believe how anatomically perfect this wonderful combination of lounge…
Those lucky enough to own a 2022 Ansel Adams wall calendar open to April can view dogwoods blossoming copiously in bright spring rain above Tanaya Creek in 1950’s Yosemite. In 1950’s Old Belfair Highway, the Union River a hundred yards behind my house looked like the Adams photo in springtime, but the dogwoods were less…
It turns out we don’t use names much anyway to confirm that we’re all part of The Movement to End All War Forever and other absurd notions having to do with social and economic equity that could quickly and easily be achieved if the pigs would just legalize pot so everyone could share the bliss…
By the time I pull into the SHELL station there’s no doubt that the noises coming from under the hood are concerning and need immediate attention. Luckily, it’s a slow day and the young guy running the place gives me the go-ahead to drive up on a portable ramp so I can drop Miss Chevy’s…
We know about sparkling eyes, dancing eyes, laughing eyes, and eyes the windows, mirrors, portals to the soul, But what about tiny soul creatures (living secretly) within each dark (and private) eye? My great-aunt Helen had a voice like that, (a voice-within-a-voice), a Sarah Vaughn voice, a Vaughn Monroe voice. Eyes like that, multidimensional eyes,…
Take it slow and easy, if you wanna get along with me. A get-along is an easy glide that doesn’t put pressure inequitably on any part by not applying much pressure, period. I’m driving slow, gliding along, looking for a place to park, a place with a roof over it, if posse le. Ah well,…