Best Hawaiian Poems
I'm standing beside an old wind bent palm tree
with coconuts laying all around me
looking out over the gentle blue green sea
feeling the warm trade winds upon my face
white billowing clouds seem to be suspended
by silver threads in the evening sky
as the blood red orange sun seems to set into the sea
and the sky is painted by firelight
I know in this moment of time
the universe was created perfectly as it should be
and if you find me here alone
know that I am not lonely
Dennis Davis
this poem is dedicated to a very special lady
Cheryl Lewis who inspired me to write this poem
The humid Hawaiian heat hobbles my head and heart too,
Hitting as the Humvee high-tails past on the highway,
Sweat seeps steadily south from scalp to shoes
Convection current cooking, keep pedaling, pores crying.
Howling Haleakala Headwinds hammer hard,
Freezing face, fingers, and forehead.
Wistfully watching the warm water Westward;
Blasting breeze’s blows batter my body backward.
Soft saline sea spray spritzes the sunbathers
As the surges' steady smashing against the shore
Rhythmically rocks the run-down revelers
to a sweet, sun-kissed, seaside sleep once more.
For Elements Part 2—Wind Contest (First Place)
Sponsored by Brian Davey
Judged 3/29/16
You said “I do”
I said it too,
That amazingly magical day,
On a Hawaiian Plateau.
Now that nineteen have come to pass,
I have no more wild oats to sow,
You will be the last lover,
I will ever know.
Passion for Plumaria
Oh you glorious Plumaria tree
With rich blossoms of pink or gold and white.
Your sweet ambrosial nectar pleases me,
Your lei placed 'round my neck is a delight.
Tropical fragrance wafting in the breeze
Favored flower by each Hawaiian guest,
Grows in abundance on our floral trees
So, with lei makers they become a quest.
Their softest velvet petals grace the face.
Wedded, denotes blooms worn behind left ears,
A local code for those who share this place
In tradition that goes back many years.
A blossom so revered, yet rife
Which is known to express eternal life.
7-23-18
Your Finest 2018 Sonnet Poetry Contest
sponsored by Mark Massey
Pink plumeria, midst the boats.
Hibiscus buoyant in moonlight.
A Hawaiian sunrise, she floats.
In my teal eyes, a blinding light.
Fluorescent peak near New York Bay.
The studio lighting with ties.
A brightened set, no quiet quay.
Smiles big, as she chats with the guys.
Those ties lollygag, with fashion,
whilst their counterpart shows her smarts.
Big blue eyes batting compassion.
In their midst, she’s the ace of hearts.
With visual field microscopic
Some utterly blind and myopic
Consume to the max
As a luxury tax
On those needing help philanthropic
Thoreau's beaten path to the river has
nothing on my bakery trip each morn.
We crave the ritual comfort to give us
a thought of control rather than forlorn
hope of the future. We are desperate
for meaning ,our curse and even I,
"atheist", am constantly on alert
for that one sparkling clue to catch my eye,
and bring all my life's work into focus.
Meanwhile the city buses continue
down Kuhio. the high heeled ladies cuss
their johns at 3, elderly tourists view
the sights after a long lifetime of work,
I sit in the bakery writing in my book.
Mountain doves coo as Apollo wakes peering
Over the Koolau ridge still dark with sultry shadows.
Sunbeams glisten on soft grey and white feathers
As the happy pair take flight in unison to tree tops.
Garden snails creep to hide under verdant foliage
As geckos delight in the warmth of the rising sun.
Magenta blooms convey love's kiss on cool trades
Bursting forth with unpredictable iconoclastic pride.
Islands in a chain still growing with lava ever flowing
While Goddess Pele steams her way into the sea,
Honu graze on pastures of limu beneath shore waters
As they have since ancient times, near coral reefs.
How can one despair with the scent of mangos in the air,
Nor stifle spirit's flight o'er the rolling ocean waves
As they caress the sandy shores beneath the palms?
The islands sing in praise with upheld open arms.
(My island as seen through my eyes.)
Geckos are a type of lizard
Pele is the volcano Fire Goddess
Honu is the most common Hawaiian Green Turtle
(They can weigh up to 400 lbs.)
Limu is Hawaiian seaweed
volcanoes
evolution erupting
hawaiian punch
Where the sea meets the sky,
Blue on blue.
White sails, slowly sliding by,
Azure hue.
Warm sands, intense, bright sun,
Calming you.
Beautiful island girl, scantily clad,
No taboo.
House made of grass and leaves,
And bamboo.
Waves of heat blurring the beach,
Outrigger canoe.
Shiny, silver grey dolphin rises,
Blowhole spew.
Hammock swaying in the balmy breeze,
Troubles few.
To the urban squalor and urban filth,
You bid adieu.
Tropical paradise and tropical peace,
Who needs a shoe?
(20 lines)
© Copyright 2012 J.A. Stevens
Waters around the Arizona seethed,
burned with blood and oil
as Chaos gripped the Harbor.
Uncle Bud reeled about the deck.
His voice rising against the din:
“Abandon ship! Abandon ship!
Abandon the goddamn ship.”
That afternoon
in a makeshift medical camp
he died from shrapnel wounds.
My grandmother told me years later
that he had saved others.
Fire, flesh, and smoke dissolve into the sweep
of a larger panorama
when volcanoes formed these isles.
In Iowa, the family gathered at church
to celebrate with a brunch
the first Sunday of Advent.
Father MacDonald announced the attack.
People scurried home to huddle around radios
that crackled with static.
Forty years later,
a fine ash from Mount St. Helens passed
over Grandma’s grave-side service.
And she rests next to her son.
Her mother-of-pearl music box,
the one Bud had given her,
almost kept her company.
But she willed it to me.
I placed it on a shelf by her picture in the living room.
It still plays.
The best pineapples are grown domestically.
They come from the Aloha State of Hawaii.
However, you can't buy them locally.
The fruit in cans may come from Central America.
Some come from Southeast Asia.
So, if you live in Alaska,
or any of the states in the continental forty-eight,
I have to tell you something that won't sound great.
No, you can't find Hawaiian pineapples on the grocery shelf.
If you want the real thing, go to Hawaii and get them yourself.
I am at total peace
sitting upon the cool sparkling snow white sandy beach
feeling the chill of the still early morning air begin to warm
waves lapping, slapping, caressing the sea shore forever more
as though the sea was talking only to me
dolphins splashing, dancing
watching and waiting for the golden sun to rise an shine
at the edge of the dark blue green sea
turning the midnight sky into the miracle of a brand new day
what a blessed event it is for me
please understand that I am blind but yet I see
because I feel Gods grace upon my face
each and every morn
and if you find me here alone
know that I am not lonely
Hawaiian short-eared
Owl, guardian spirit saves
Land from strange species
Elegant in flight
Feathers ruffled rounded face
Golden wide eyes stare
The poignant song of an island woman,
loss of land, loss of culture, loss of self,
is the hard part of my return that I can
think of. I and others, privileged wealth,
only make those losses more permanent,
farther away, more difficult to return.
All the anger and the rage that want
to be expressed, can not, because they learn
each day of futility in the midst
of a majority. So poured into song,
much like slave blues, expressed in mildest
terms the desire to right years of wrong.
Just once I'd like to see privileged power
support the culture of another.