Bamboo Shoots Submission for October 2025 Bamboo Shoots Writing Contest Prompts
Filling da pukas: 200 words
Strands of memory
cachi cachi
hair loose
flowing down
her brown shoulders
her jaw
is my jaw
her eyes
are my eyes
Just gives you the blues…
In da obit
it’s just the facts
no can smell
da sickeningly sweet, sticky
pineapple juice
da odor
da stain
of da land grabbers
no can make ‘em
go away
in da obit
no can hear
her voice
Just gives you the blues…
Da familiar wounds
of Blood work
going make you cry
going make you rememba
da pain
da ostrich book
of Bloodwork
wen bring
someting
some people call
happiness
like taro duck
like music
from da kitchen
can make you foget about
how da fishing rod
wen broke
on da back of braddah
Just gives you the blues…
Unko used to say
“I tell you what,
once you open
da ostrich book,
you neva know
wat going come out.
I used to go night fishing.
One night
I wen miss wit da spea
wen hit one big rock
one eel da size of my truck
wen rush me!”
Da ostrich book tell you everyting
about wea you wen come from
so many pukas
so many pukas
Just gives you the blues…*
*Mahalos
To Auntie Joni for that haunting line in California.
Aloha ʻohana,
This poem grew out of my thoughts after reading Donald Carreira Ching’s “Bloodwork “.
Wow. This is another strong poem with so much to unpack. Here’s what really resonated with me:
“someting
some people call
happiness
like taro duck
like music
from da kitchen
can make you foget about
how da fishing rod
wen broke
on da back of braddah”
Also the call to memory… “so many pukas, so many pukas”
Chicken skin.
I’ll tell Donald to come check this piece out too! Mahalo for writing and sharing.