poor poor hanalei.
the most beautiful place
the most beautiful wave
on it’s ‘day’ superlatives
turn into just words.
like the beautiful woman with
far too many suitors becomes
a worn and tawdry shadow
of a former self … the niches
at and in hanalei remain the same
the people just change …
the most popular game in town
is "How long have you been here?
and the answer I favor,
-The mountains have been here longer than any body-
schooling the FNG is a job for those who think they know something…
from a distance … what ? You Know Something?
I have a friend that learned to stop revealing he was
from this island when confronted far away by someone
who knew everything about the place where he lived.
Hana lei has been sold many times over
in my short tenure … the sleepy porch at the rice mill,
ching ma leong , sunrise bakery,the locked gate
at the princeville ranch, The Hanalei plantation Hotel,
the wilderness trail down the bluff ,empty lots on weke road,
only one house at waikoko ,
henry Tai Hook who adopted surfers
and fed them rice and corned beef
from “The Black Pot”
Jerry Lynn ,the man
who singlehandedly saved blackpot
from being developed by taking photos
to governor burns of the moving of the
property line beyond the vegetation.
john bylander ,bubby yarberry(rip),
a parade of archtypes and solid sent
reformers,exploiters,burn artists,
drop - in specialists scarry takeoffs
by the surely blind ,
peeled potatoes blocking shoulders
wearing bikinis,peter murray
being pushed into his first wave
at the hanalei bowl by carlos.
The pond scum behind the mission house
sometimes washes into the ocean
after a big enough rain.
the water table in hanalei is beset
with a banquet of human by-products
from excrement to interscolastic
surf enthusiasts meanwhile
the mountains are amused
When I first saw the birthplace of rainbows
the burnt trees on the ridges told the story
of the big fire. I know because somebody told me.
…ambrose…
I won the pissing contest
at the end of the pier.
When I wouldn’t jump from the roof
of the pier,lunchmeat pushed me off.
David Maki tried to revive ‘dump truck’
when he drowned at the pier
swimming with the other kids …
surfing hanalei alone
after dark w/out a leash
putting the key back
under the flat rock
before you go in.
tex wilson drove the whaler from the club Mud
across the river for his job.
Ralph speared an ulua from his front yard
swimming up river …
wildog cutting meat at the dolphin
spaceman on the back wall
the dolphin staff living
at the dolphin house on the beach
huie macintosh (rip)
Kim Harp (rip)
poor poor hanalei
may she survive her
suitors lust.
Lotsa kooks to go around