Hala

Winner of the 2015 James Vaughan Poetry Contest. The author will read the winning poems at the Ko`olau Writers Workshop on April 9th, 2016.

 

by Joseph Stanton

The pandanus,
the oldest of God plants—
sporting aerial roots
as evidence of transcendence— Continue reading

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The Web of an Orb Weaver

Winner of the 2015 James Vaughan Poetry Contest. The author will read the winning poems at the Ko`olau Writers Workshop on April 9th, 2016.

 

by Joseph Stanton

In this woven orb an ending waits.
Who knew a life could have such symmetry?
A mosquito, a moth, a tiger swallowtail—
each flies a random path it thinks,
pursuing food, or sex, or sunlight Continue reading

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Chopping Wood with My Father

by James Valvis

He never minded labor, only people,
the work easy, even when difficult,
when it murdered his back and eyes.
He understood pain, the private agony
of a dirty toilet, existentialism of mornings
pumping gas or grinding auto parts
so their welding no longer showed seams. Continue reading

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An Artist in the Family

by Peter Obourn

We lived in a small town.

My dad had eight fingers.

My mother was beautiful.

My brother, Sam, was trying to figure out where dreams come from. Continue reading

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Clamor

by Sierra Jacob

you want to build a lei across the mountain / catalogue / want the deep wet / massive habitat loss: simply too daunting to tackle / fold the leeward grassland back to shade / if the prospect of extinction doesn’t concern people / upon rediscovery / Continue reading

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