Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 24, Number 4, 1 April 2007 — More poems from Komehomeha students [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

More poems from Komehomeha students

Aloha kākou. Because of the great positive responses I received last month, I am featuring a few more pieces found in He Makana no Pauahi, written by haumāna in Mr. Todd Takahashi's communications class at Kamehameha Schools. Although I eannot feature eaeh student, I would like to express how proud I am of eaeh and every one of them; eaeh embodies the character that our beloved princess hoped to build in her industrious men and women of Kamehameha. Mahalo to all the haumāna and the voices within them. I mua. I Arn Standing IWIIiam Sanchez I am standing ... waiting Waiting for an answer from afar A message so subtle, so delicate Yet deep as the oeean that surrounds us I am sitting . . . waiting For an answer to a burning question deep inside me And you A burning question that ean only be answered by strangers I am hoping ... waiting For my ancestors to shake the rafters from above Making a wondrous sound And for my children to use the wondrous gift that we have given them I am praying . . . waiting Waiting for an answer to my prayers Praising the creator of this blessed gift So that this gift may go on forever more I am waiting . . . just waiting Hoping to preserve my yesterdays Standing up for my today And praying for better tomorrows I am waiting . . . will you wait with me? Kū 'āina Kawika Mark A plaee we live, A plaee where we eall home, The land is that plaee. We treat the land as one of us, lt is our 'ohana, lt is our land we share. It is our plaee to mālama. Mālama the 'āina.

The land is our kuleana, We must take care of it, As we do ourselves. Uē ka lani, ola ka honua. Stand deysia Kaha We have been taken Our love for the 'āina And all it has to offer us We have forgotten That if we prosper the land lt will return its gifts to us. We were scared onee To speak the language that was given to us Given by the gods The mana that eaeh is born with Was stomped on We were stomped on Just the dust blown in the air What was ours has been taken We've been taken Away, Away from the culture that defined us That connected us Weaving us together in a circle To care for the land For eaeh other And to care To care about what has changed They have told us that we were wrong to speak, To feel the land and to be Hawaiian Blinding us Were we wrong? Wrong to be whom we are In their eyes we were Let the pound of the ancient gourd beat onee again The wind whispers sweet melodies of Hawai'i The kalo grow, the children of Hawai'i grow And the rays of the sun melt through us and engrave our hearts with its love WE WILL STAND UNITED E OLA MAU What Makes a Hawaiian? )evin Lee ls it the fact that my birth certificate says Hawaiian on it? NO ls it because my father before me was Hawaiian? NO ls it because of the blood running through my veins? NO ls it because of the school I attend? NO ls it because of all the Hawaiian-based things I am taught at that school? NO ls it because my middle name is Keahi? NO ls it because my hair is dark and my skin is a darkish color? NO ls it because I embrace my past and allow it to influence my future? YES E3

ūz Stender TrustEE, At-largE