Hawai‘i Literature & Art
— Since 1978 —
A Companion This companion, is a long-distance bird, a bird of long journeys, a bird of many changing colors and many clothes. His small body is simply carried off by fierce onshore winds. Persistently thrashed till rain-soaked to the bone, is this fragile bird. In blustery winds, full of anger, the forces mean nothing to…
If you pay attention, nothing is trivial Running her fingers through her hair Primping her hair Brushing hair from her forehead Glancing at her fingernails Looking skyward Nervous laughter Darting eyes Shifting her weight Forgetting to eat Drinking more Twisting a ring Turning a bracelet Fingering her necklace Laughing at nothing Running her finger around…
The Women I love One is a widow who closes her eyes. One makes love with fractured English. One talks in her sleep with foreign tongues. One mistook me for a sane man. One is divorced for too long. One is married to a grumpy groundskeeper. The other ran away with a gypsy. Another is…
Happy Year of the Dog! A new year. Our contest rolls on. The rules remain the same. You can write a Haiku or you can write a piece that is EXACTLY 100 words long or you can write a piece that is EXACTLY 1000 words. Make sure to click the Year of the Dog button…
Congratulations to Rbibeau, Piihonua(On faith. Really hope you provide a translation for those who do not know Hawaiian, so we can learn), Homelessinhonolulu, Darrel, and Categable. You’re all winners this month. As always, this means you’ve won 10 Bamboo Bucks to spend in our online store. Just mention that you’re a February writing contest winner…
Full Moon at Sunset After the nuclear explosion, light filtered through the clouds’ soft focus, an exquisite, violet sky darkening to rouge at the border of the hills. The surface of the water, grey-pink perturbed Japanese silk, folded over and lapping at the bodies, soothed the shore with tremors. Our buildings glowed with a sterilized…
—Uncle, when is Chinese New Year? “Ah-so, little Gas-hoppah. Lemme consult my calendah…” —You gotta consult da lunar calendar? “All kine calendar gotta consult. Chinese New Year sometimes January, sometimes February. If da pa-kes had their way, would be in March too!” —How come? Supposed to be da new moon in January. “Not so fast,…
A Valentine Upon the broad leaf Of the autograph tree Volumes, whole libraries on love
ʻO keia hoanoho, he manu lele loa, he manu huakaʻi loa, a he manu loli lole. Halihali wale ʻia kona kino liʻiliʻi e na makani nui e pa mai ana mai ka moana mai. Palukulukuʻia a pulu i ka ua ia manu palapala. Piha no ka makani puaʻo i ka inaina. He meaʻole naʻe i…
Falling in Love Falling in love is when you find someone who loves sushi as you do and you could spend hours talking about sushi and translate those moments into everlasting love.