Tag Archives: Hawaii

Queen Liliʻuokalani Making Coffee at Starbucks on Waikīkī

by Robin E. Field

The green apron shields her muʻumuʻu from splashes of whole milk, oat milk, almond milk, the steamed milk and cold foam that crown the cups of coffee at the Starbucks on Waikīkī. Her name badge reads Lydia. Regal before the espresso machine, she sways the steam wand through the milk, graceful, precise, hips undulating before the song of steam. Continue reading →

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The Tourist

by M. Anne Kala`i

Naiwi’s first and only visit to the mainland nearly burned him down. Desperate to escape the island that knew him better than he knew himself, he sold what valuables he could scrape together from distracted vacationers and his cash-strapped family, and lit out for California. Continue reading →

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Ka ‘Iwa ‘Alua

by Eric Paul Shaffer

_____ If a moment under the sun happened only once,
that would be one, but as I lay in the sunlight reading,
a shadow flicked over the page beneath my eyes.

I looked into the light, and through the clouds soared
_____the ‘iwa, the glorious crook-winged glider of sea
and shore, veering waveward after a long, luxurious turn Continue reading →

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For the Future of Ka Malu ʻUlu o Lele

by Bailey Baybayan

No Ka Malu ʻUlu o Lele
For the lush green lands that flow from Mauka to Makai
Fish ponds that house the sustenance of our people
Winds that carry the sweet fragrance of aloha
Our land is the most beautiful in the world …  Continue reading →

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Filed under Poetry, Young Writers Edition

Disappearing Sands

by Julie Paul

In every wave, a multitude of yellow fish.

It’s November, 2017, and we’re in Kona, on the Big Island of Hawai’i. We watch the ocean from the wraparound lānai of Daylight Mind, a laidback cafe with good coffee and the wifi password “perfectview.” The ever-promised rain is falling, the first real rainfall in six days. A yellow-billed cardinal just visited for our muffin crumbs, and the scent from a foraged plumeria blossom beside my plate transports me back to high school. I wore frangipani essential oil on my wrists then, a strange coral pink elixir in a glass vial from the health food store. Continue reading →

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Filed under Nonfiction