Hawai‘i Literature & Art
— Since 1978 —
As a youngster I was dragged to Sunday service, sat brooding in a middling distance pew, wedged amongst my mother, grandmother, and sister, jerking awake against the pastor’s droning tide. Occasionally I’d nod into hellbent dozing, only to be elbowed by my mom, if she were part of the immediate wedging, or given a small…
is born in times of desperate necessity, given shape by a growing ambition and substance by opportunity. Grandfather grew to young adulthood in Ilocos Norte, Philippines, then a U.S. Commonwealth territory his youth tempted by just how far he might go, reminded of a territorial power, a past imperialism, and by the echo of his…
Let today be an exceptionally special day in an oh so normal mundane way let us look at everything with wide open eyes let the common be an exciting surprise only today shall we dance in the rain searching diligently for the sun in vain we keep on dancing after the rain has ceased the…
It’s true. I recommended the age-old old-age topic to the Buckaroo. Cocky me thought I could write a piece so full of longevity’s rewards as to inspire universal admiration and anticipation among the young. Starting with “Sure beats the alternative” and thinking to mine a rich vein of elder advantage, I falter at “the alternative”….
Hale’iwa Ali’i Beach Park adjacent to Halei’iwa Harbor on Oahu’s North Shore is one of my favorite spots on Oahu. I love to sit on the warm sand right beside the imposing seawall built with huge lava rock boulders, immobile soldiers protecting the harbor entrance. I close my eyes and easily lose myself in the…
Okay, here at the prompts for June. Remember, these prompts are springboards, so no crack your head on the board when you hit um instead of the pool, and no need to use them if you want to write about something else. This month instead of 250 words or fewer, we’re going for exactly 250…
Looking at my naked self in a full-length mirror reveals a diverse palette of possibilities, some anticipated, some not. It seems that by choosing sudden baldness over the more gradual male pattern alternative, I have opened up other coiffure possibilities. In fact, invited them. Nay, demanded them. Judging by the preliminary stubble, I will have…
My childhood friend claimed the sky belonged to him. As we sat there on the lānai, looking out over the grounds, he suddenly said all the clouds, any birds flying around, and even all the blue were his. He was always imaginative. I asked about an airplane we could see taking off from the reef…
Tita flap her hands make her calm make her happy. Tita cannot talk but she perceptive –she know what you going do before you going do it like wait at da door before you get your car keys out or get her iPad for answer one question you never ask yet. Tita cannot talk but…
Words are strange… As they tell us stories through air, and through our many mediums They never have the same meaning. Though the words may stay the same, the difference in the person, the writer, the reader, the speaker, They all lead to a different message. Much like snowflakes as the free-fall from the clouds…