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Bamboo Shoots Submission for General Poetry
I LIVE IN HAWAII/BY Alexis Nye
I live in Hawaii
But I am not Hawaiian.
Only parts of my human soul
festooned with plumerias
dripping sea water
Nut brown voices singing in my head.
Living in a miracle
Daily walking points of light
Suspended in a dream
Lived out by other humans
Long before I got here.
heiaus now calling their presence
Calling me to be present…
Did they dream of me
walking past their graves-
biting into their fruit-
coaxing the golden Mahi
from the turquoise sea?
I a silent interloper
eat descendants of their fish
and coconuts…
While listening to music their
Children listened to
I drive along black roped highways
imprisoning the Aina,
Shopping in mainland super stores…
Passing green money
over to pale white hands,
I am in Hawaii
Breathing volcano laced air…
But I am not Hawaiian.
GENETICS
Your poems has a strong kinship to the land. In this aspect, what does being a non Hawaiian mean to you vs. being Hawaiian?
You are either Hawaiian or you aren’t. You can love Hawaii, you can "get" Hawaii…….but unless you have the genetic markers to prove it you are NOT Hawaiian. (Going to a garage doesn’t make you a car)
I beleive our genetics are deep memory in us…and "key" us into our experience in life. I am a Christian and do not believe in reincarnation; however I believe most people with regressive "memory" experiences are not experiencing their past life, but rather "keying" into DNA memory.
So I am not able to "be" Hawaiian because I love them….I lack the DNA componant of shared history and genetics. While I can appreciate their experience I will never BE this experience.
That logic is somewhat flawed isn’t it? I mean, if I were to get a blood transfusion from someone who is Hawaiian, would I not be Hawaiian for a brief period of time because the DNA component you spoke of would be accessible to me?
And if it’s accessible to me, wouldn’t I then have gained some sort of shared experience or memory and therefore making me Hawaiian? When the transfused blood is eventually out of my system, wouldn’t the memory and experience remain because they are now part of me and will eventually surface in my dreams or subconcious?
So unless I’m applying to Kam school, I think you can be Hawaiian without having the DNA component.
HEY DID YOU LIKE THE POEM?
Ow. Can of worms. Normally, if you are born somewhere: Calfornia-Californian, Italy-Italian, etc. Note that no culture is pure or separate from all other cultures.
If you are born here your culture is a an Asian/Polynesian/European/American mixture and whether your DNA says Hawaiian or not. We who don’t have Hawaiian blood are often made to feel that we are less because we do not belong to the clan. We aren’t less. When I lived in Europe, people asked me if I was Hawaiian. I had to explain that I wasn’t ethnically Hawaiian, but that I shared local culture.
I think it’s the spirit of being Hawaiian is meant and that can be shared. Culturally, people of Hawaiian descent are not different from other Hawaii-born people, just their DNA. All of this talk of pure blood and who gets to be considered Hawaiian is a little creepy, like those Aryan notions of the last century. I mean no disrespect to Hawaiians, but hey, we all arrived on the planet in the same way and we are all human.
Ow. Can of worms. Normally, if you are born somewhere: Calfornia-Californian, Italy-Italian, etc. Note that no culture is pure or separate from all other cultures.
If you are born here your culture is a an Asian/Polynesian/European/American mixture whether your DNA says Hawaiian or not. We who don’t have Hawaiian blood are often made to feel that we are less because we do not belong to the clan. We aren’t less. When I lived in Europe, people asked me if I was Hawaiian. I had to explain that I wasn’t ethnically Hawaiian, but that I shared local culture and attitudes.
I think it’s the spirit of being Hawaiian is meant and that can be shared. Culturally, people of Hawaiian descent are not different from other Hawaii-born people, just their DNA.
All of this talk of pure blood and who gets to be considered Hawaiian is a little creepy, like those Aryan notions of the last century. I mean no disrespect to Hawaiians, but hey, we all arrived on the planet in the same way and we are all human.