TheColumnists.com

 Paul Hertelendy

 

 POET LAUREATE OF THECOLUMNISTS.COM

 A POET'S VISIONS OF
HAWAII

 Our poet laureate, Paul Hertelendy, recently visited the Hawaiian Islands. The following poems reflect his personal visions of the tropical paradise.


 SWEATY PALMS, ON ISLAND IN THE SUN

 

Waikiki, that futuristic urban marvel, is enshrouded
By the soaring high-rise towers
Reminiscent of Manhattan.
Gives me twinges of nostalgia
Of my Eastern past---
Yet they overwhelm my desert-island fantasies.
Futility, reclining on the beach!
---Honolulu


 HALONA BLOWHOLE

 

Watching from the corner of their low-slung eyes,
The whales cruise past the coast
And blow the spume in gushers up on high
And dazzle crowds that come and cheer.
But rugged competition surfaces
When wind-whipped sea transforms
From turquoise hues to boiling white
And slams the shore with tremble force,
Catapulting wave-bred spouts yet higher.
Halona’s blowhole in the lava,
Sculpted by the hand of nature,
Chides the whales and loud reminds,
They’re not the only waterfront spectacular out there.
---Oahu

 HEIAU
An Ancient Hawaiian Temple Platform

 

Heiau rocks---unyielding lava rocks,
Black as pitch, devoid of scuffs
Or trace of times that
King Kamehameha the Great no doubt trod here
With iron feet, invincibly,
In wake of conquering Oahu
By maneuvering the local army
To the brink of Pali’s cliff,
Advancing till the enemy had nothing underfoot but air.

The isolated, half-forgotten temple mount---
A giant platform flat as pancakes
In a jigsaw-perfect fit,
Built of hundred thousand stones
By sweat of menehune workers---
Still can radiate its aura-power though abandoned,
Populated yet by gods and spirits from the olden times
Reluctant to abandon such a holy site
Above the old lagoon, with ocean panorama.

Heiau draws my spirit too
And speaks so soft at night in arcane messages
Of duty, destiny and promise.
Heiau, help me! You’ve provided strength,
But not enough to break away
To make my long-planned journey home.
---Ulupo Heiau, Kailua, Oahu



©2004 by Paul Hertelendy. The illustrations are from IMSI's Master Clips Collection, 1895 Francisco Blvd. E., San Rafael, CA, 94901-5506, USA. Paul Hertelendy is a critic with the San Francisco Bay Area arts website www.artssf.com. To visit his website, click here: PAUL


You can comment on this column online. Please address your message to either "The Editors" or Paul Hertelendy. To send an email, click here: talkback@thecolumnists.com

 Home  About Us Archives  Talkback   Shopping Mall