Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 14, Number 1, 1 January 1997 — Native Hawaiian in Prison [ARTICLE]

Native Hawaiian in Prison

by Mahealani lng Kamauu As a boy in Nu 'uanu He heard fhe Ancients whisper. His molher : who did not hear them, Made sure he placed the maile By theirmarble crypts. Red ginger, iaua 'e, Carried in heavy buckets, S!oshing through underground chambers, Paths oflight going up, Dark paths going down. He swam at Kapena, A young boy's reward. At these times his heartsang For the high waterfall, The Ancients in his ear, Ihe slippery climb up, The arcing dive down. He tended the fires ofpeace: He saw the Lord on Sunday, A whipping on Monday. On other days he saw other things— When ihe Ancients whisper, Who ean know the heart ofaboy ? In time he was sent crway To better love the Lord. Hewassent Tonotwhere Sweet hallelujah Was a needle 's high And glory glory A spreading thigh. The Ancients eame again. This time they bapttzed him In their own way— AtNapo'opo'o His heart was a drum: He danced with 'lolani The white sacred bird. The next time they whispered He swam with manō. Hisheartsang For this boy's reward: The green worid below, The blue light above. Prison is a plaee Where the Ancients are silenced, AndEarth'ssong Cannot be heard. itisacrypt Beyord breathing Fioweriess, without life's fragrance. The boy sits in a eell Far from the white bird's cry Wrih the incandescent hum Ofblue light from above.