Hawai‘i Literature & Art
— Since 1978 —
advertises a view of the graveyard, a selling point for believers in kismet– a divine hand reaching from the far side of a life lived. At night, glass doors open to the view from a fourteenth floor lanai, invite images from a spectral dream– ominous music playing in and out like breath. Something emerges from…
“‘Kay, Esteban, you on break.” As Esteban stepped away from his position, he lifted his chin in acknowledgment. With a barely suppressed sigh, he pulled off the latex monster hands he had been waving at patrons of the haunted house. Once past the curtains, he mingled with the exiting patrons. Esteban walked past the other…
In that unique quiet of morning / The appointed hour draws nigh / And from every direction / They shuffle forward in droves / Expressions masked / Inscrutable / Manning their gleaming conveyances / They fall in / At their marks / Equidistant / In regimented formation / Resigned to their fate / Steeled by…
“Choo you kind of old to make trick or treat?” She was, and asking the question was stating the obvious. What Mrs. Kanemura did best. But Mrs. Kanemura was the reason Kelly was out walking the uphill, sidewalkless streets of East Mānoa. An eighth grade Gulliver among first grade Lilliputians. You could barely call what…
We rode that old MGB with the top down, the wind and sunshine on our faces. We took that road right after Three Tables and before Foodland up to Pupukea Heiau. Michael maneuvered the MG along the bumpy dirt road. To the right, Waimea Bay glittered as waves caught the sunshine. Trade winds played with…
Her veined hand shakes as she grips the wooden bannister. The faint knocking at the door has awakened her again, and she is on the staircase now, headed down, step by slow step, knowing what’s coming. Age makes each unsteady tread deliberate, and in this cautious movement she sees herself, naked, descending the staircase, leaving…
Jack-o’-lantern’s grin Yellow flame, bewitching glow Igniting terror
Midnight at graveyard Wet-beaked ravens on tombstone Waiting for master
Okay, for October the word counts are exactly 100 or exactly 500. Topic #1 Surprise! It’s Halloween. Candy, ghosts, costumes, anything associated with it. Topic #2 Surprise! It’s ghosts. Ooooooo. Topic #3 Surprises. Any kind. Good, bad, ugly, good-looking, funny, serious, happy, sad. Remember, these are only suggested prompts. Use them as springboards, or jump…
Outside a body Assembled and made by man Inside a wild soul