Hawai‘i Literature & Art
— Since 1978 —
Barbwire snagged the left knee and I had torn it turning away from a stile, nearly losing balance while sloughing through the black mud of a backtrail curving behind a taro farm nestled in a Big Island valley. During a California drought, the right knee split open as I knelt and rose repeatedly to load…
We need a bigger boat!! “Let’s take a boat ride to the Na Pali Coast,” he said. Uncle was arranging the activities for the family reunion and wanted us to experience the exciting escapades that the tourists enjoy. When we heard ‘boat,’ we thought the watercraft would be bigger. The boat was really a Zodiac—the…
(A 100-word Shakespearean style sonnet) We find ourselves inside this corridor of language; she comes from the eastern door, and I the western one, each taking more steps toward what fate may hold for us in store. We offer stuttered greetings first at best, both in our languages, but neither one much understanding very…
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…
The music stopped, but we kept dancing. We could hear the melody going on, even though the musicians were packing up. I began humming the first song we’d ever heard together, that night we went to see The Great Gatsby, then headed to Ala Wai Clubhouse. There was a ballroom dance for the students. We joined in. I realized that’s…
In the Philippine summer after my matriculation, I was failing to explain to my aunt via my mother’s frustrated sign language: I was not married. Her misunderstanding arose upon receiving a photograph of a smiling couple: myself in a tuxedo and a young woman in ivory, clutching a vendela rose bouquet and beneath, flourishing English…
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…
Okay, we’re going to shift gears this month. Let’s revisit short pieces. This month, let’s do either exactly 100 words, or exactly 500 words. One or the other. Or both if you have the time. You can submit as many piece as you like. And keep in mind that any piece you write might be…
My dad used to have them outside his den. I remember sneaking down there in the dead of night to try to see them. Or maybe I was dreaming, perhaps sleepwalking my way to his collection. Whether awake or asleep, I know I wanted to be impressed, to marvel at the pieces, whether for their…