The Fourth of Kaua'i
By Michael H. Kew
herein heaven lies mode erstwhile
indeed sundews sprout on Waialeale
gaze Nāpali downcrack zen
no human toes to vast blue canvasse
salted sea
wildernessa
holy whitecaps of Haena
heady specks of warmwater dusta
ruefully ponder your near-transplant to this 29 years yore
22 years
8
consider futures
(we have more than one)
chew slow emotional torment of historic life choices and mysteries
deaths of warm opportune
what may have been amidst tan wet skin
you dip through rivermouth into the wide green bay
polyrhythmic world arena
slide happy dimensional rills amongst happily yakking waist-deepers
shrieking kids leap from the pier
shirtless fat fishermen hoist crab pots from the river
kayak south beneath ferny bridge twixt dense hau thickets
the route a dream to proceed
to link yellow flowers of Sun
so birds feed into the ancientness of earth children
natty youths toss firecracks onto lazy dog-day lanes of Hanalei
roosters smashed and smeared over and into hot black grit
firecrackers shall shatter minds at Pavilion
Black Pot plastic will smoke the nose
greasy scent of hamburg wafts offshore the blind plumeria’d fields of Princeville
Kalihiwai vistas
river cleaves there from here
drunks and ghetto noise on the white sand beach
I&I metaphor—on the outside looking in
July 4?
we are not Americans
independent child to woman to man?
rank/file seize the occasion to Monday rave
geckos crickets barking dogs fireworks wind cat fights in the darkness ether.
kind brine near the botanic garden.
reverie
find humble fruits from the Sun
rain—universe
rainiverse
dream state
kamani boughs for shield
strange warpy flap and grind of tour helis
pretty tree hibiscus
startling dumpy thump of falling mangoes
older surfers’ inspirational water thoughts
wai ask wai?
epiphanies and existential purgatory
Kaua’i back then was boring—no drugs, no women
but there were crystal spears
orphic avenues
always the holy mountain
safety of Sun
Makana fairy lookouts and flame throws
and the gods would ring July in fine-formed with copious midnight ocean lightning and thunder
pensive rumbles in pensive darkness
blinding marine flashes
isolated strong storms in the haze garden
the rainbow garden
the spirit garden
again
Photos: Kew.
Adapted from Incense Gardens, forthcoming work of travel poetry (Spruce Coast Press, 2022).
