Little girl
Blonde beneath
Papaya tree
Barefoot squish
Slimy seeds
Push between
Tiny toes
Runs away
Familiar jungle
Strange pollinator
Carries eggs
Fruit caviar
Feet planting
Tomorrow's garden

You know
That I'm here
But you
Don't look at me
Up above
Against blue sky
Brown skin silhouette
Board shorts
I want to
Avert my eyes
Even though I'm sure
You've done this before
I have not watched
because of
  the reality
    of a missed mark...
unrecoverable

I will not stop you
  But I hold my breath
      As you fly
Wingless bird
    Ocean fish
Emerging as white teeth smile
    Through bubbly froth
        Crawling dark sea spider
              Swims to rock
Shakes dark hair
   Glistening you ascend
       The cliff
              trail
                   disappearing

As do I

Twisted
    lingering brightness
Twirl
  of firey flames
Released
    thown
       with thrusting
    rhythmic arms
Caught
    in strong hands
         dark and powerful
Tribal hip sway
   fast
     and nimble
Practiced
   muscle memory
      instinctual
Bare
  stong legs
      red heat
    flare
        glowing
            smooth skin
         angular
            unsinged
footfalls
      beat down
           syncopated
                heart beat
pulse points
   harmonize
civilization fails me
    entranced
       primal
wanting
   beautiful man
      with fire

And when it is over
and finally the last of the ashes
float into the sea
the sky clears
blue concave lens
through which I cannot see
here I will breathe
as if underwater
oxygenated flow over gills
I don't need to understand
bathed
of muddy ash
supplied with what I need

I think these things
   as prayers....

  grey flecks
        swirling down
            around me

She sits beside me
In a laundry basket; smiling
Squared yellowing photo; fading
Two blonde girls
haole keikis
but I am too young
to know these words
or their sting
she will bear them
maybe that's why
she has hardened
maybe harassment
sharpens you like shards of lava rock
so that you can cut
in defense
lash out

but I am careful,
dear sister,
because
I've learned
that
proximity
to you
is dangerous

I wonder...

Do you wish
you'd not unleashed
your full tempest

Glassy flows
hardening scars
blackening

steam rising
at the confluence
of saltwater seas
     which soothe
            and cool

Maybe
you only needed
a receptive abyss

but it is
a mighty mass of molecules
     required to
         squelch your fury

you've destroyed
     so much beauty

yet
I return
in the aftermath
surveying the damage
seeking survivors

and wonder
if this silence
means
a lasting dormancy

that we might begin
a peaceful rebuilding

Coconut is split
Raked along the shore by waves
Then rests to take root
From the crack new life will come
Spilled milk and meat brings new growth

Light shows its colors
Splitting in waterfall mist
Smiling to the sun

His    
             love
                           made
                                          a

          
        ­                    hole

       in
                  my
                               shell

through  which

             leaked 
        
                     my            
                               *soul

We live on the precipice
Never knowing where we'll be
     Next
When we will fit in
When we will be removed
     Rejected
Behaviours distract
From those under that Bell Curve
It's not their fault
    "We choose our actions."
We retreat
Again
Up or down, but always away
To whispers from those
Sure that they know
What's best for us
    (What's best for them)

We pretend not to hear
But he asks me as we walk away.
We aren't sheep, I tell him.
They must separate us out.
    The shepard won't claim us.
Mountain goats.

I tell him:
We have crags,
   We are resilient
We have provisions from God
and blue skies
   our abilities are unique
        and our hairs are numbered
             wild, though they may be.
Created
     not less than
          but for the precipice
              
And gifted
    with a wide perspective

Vast blue sea and sky
Bright green fern, clear waters fall
Earthy smell of fruit

Saline infusion
Salty mist into my lungs
lips dry soft in heat