Malia :: ka Wahine kia’i ‘āina⠀

⠀

Malo says ⠀

Land without kanaka is moku  ⠀

Solid surface severing the sea ⠀

And I didn’t quite understand ⠀

How Kānaka can make ‘āina of pōhaku ⠀

Until I found all that I needed to feed me ⠀

In the sincere stare of your eyes 

Or the soft creases of your palms ⠀

As we pulled the dawn out of the freezing night ⠀

⠀

Nawahi says ⠀

Aloha ‘āina ⠀

Is a magnetic force drawing kanaka to ‘āina ⠀

To self governance ⠀

To eachother ⠀

And I can’t help but recall ⠀

The way we made steel guards out of our bodies for our love ⠀

How we made aloha ⠀

Out of this commitment ⠀

How the mauna became a magnet for us all ⠀

And so much more still ⠀

in her Majesty ⠀

⠀

And then there is me ⠀

Two centuries past the genius of these ⠀

Kanaka intellectuals turned prophets ⠀

And I am wondering ⠀

What mo’olelo will I write to honor the kia’i in your bones ⠀

What collection of metaphors ⠀

Will celebrate ⠀

Your mo’olelo

The way ⠀

You teach us all how to feed and be fed ⠀

What mele will I sing to hanohano your grace ⠀

⠀

Pukui tells me that to honor is to mālama⠀

And I think of all the alters of care I could build at your feet⠀

All the pōhaku I would gather ⠀

from the corners of our pae ‘āina ⠀

and stack in your name ⠀

⠀

And there are so many songs I could sing ⠀

So many melodies that come to heart ⠀

Too many to settle on one ⠀

All I know is ⠀

‘O oe no ka’u I upu ai ...⠀

Hilo pa’a I ke aloha ... ⠀

o kou aloha ka I Hiki mai ⠀

The phrases keep falling to the tip of my tongue ⠀

And I am struck quiet by our abundance ⠀

⠀

And then when I least expect it 

you come into perfect focus⠀

 and Every mele I’ve spent my life etching into the somber chambers of my voice ⠀

Now has a new purpose ⠀

And for the first time in months 

I take a full breath ⠀

⠀

And in my exhale I realize⠀

The only thing I need to say ⠀

Is your name⠀

⠀