Gone but not Lost

Pau are the chanting voices among Hawaii’s Kings and Queens
The fishing nets thrown into abundant seas
And the poetic language of the people.
Gone are the winds of our ancestors
The rice fields in Waikiki
The sparse and open land upon the ocean
So long has the chord to our Mother been severed
We have been weaned from her tit without notice.
We have become deaf to the rocks and trees, lands and seas
Blind to the natural beauty that is around us, beneath us, above us,
And the inherent beauty that we are.
For now, KAPU is written around our spirits
We stand still, afraid to cross imaginary lines of illusion and lies.
Our warriors of Polynesian decent have become children once again
Sucking fragile tits of yeast and barley in colacoa (kalakoa) bottles.
Man made mixtures of unnatural chemicals are smoked
Poisoning our Aloha.
Even our brothers and sister of pure blood
Have become Haoles, they are without Aloha
Without the knowledge, without the Breath of Life.
Long gone, forever changed, but not lost
For a few have found the over grown paths of our ancestors
They have reattached to our Mother and have searched frantically
For old ways, old songs, old legends of old truths forgotten.
Today I listen and hear the ancient chants full of life
Calling us home like prodigal sons and daughters forgiving all.
In silence I find my own breath, in breath I find the old voices
And hear the rebirth of my own.
In this moment I return to the islands that are Hawaii
Placing my forehead and nose to Mother Hawaii
Breathing deep, full, and pure
Life returns

Richard Nedervelt
28 Sept 2010