Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 25, Number 7, 1 July 2008 — Kahoʻolawe inspires student poetry [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Kahoʻolawe inspires student poetry

To put it lightly, Kaho'olawe has had a rough 60 years. At the start ofWorldWarII, theU.S. Military assumed control of Kaho'olawe as a bombing target for training, with the assurance that the island would be returned when no longer needed for military purposes. By 1965, blasts had cracked the small fresh water well on the island rendering it ineapahle of holding fresh water and making the island all but uninhabitable. In the 1970s, the Protect Kaho'olawe 'Ohana led protests against the bombing and also held occupations of the island. In 1993, Congress passed a law recognizing the cultural significance of the island and requiring the Navy to return the island to the State of Hawai'i. The hill also authorized federal funding for eleanup. Today, schools and other groups frequently visit Kaho'olawe to work on the long road to restoration. Here are some accounts from the eighth-graders of Volcano School of Arts and Sciences on Hawai'i Island, who visited Kaho'olawe earlier this year. □

REFLECTIONS ON KAHO'OLAWE Starting With Kaho'olawe Dolphins dancing, trucks driving, people planting, the perfect harmony between man and nature. Swamping waves smashing students, the blazing sun bums skin with no trees to shelter us. Digging holes in the sand, digging holes in clay. As we hounee around in shock-less trucks, we look back and see the work we have completed as a team, but also as a family. I think to myself, "It's still not enough. More ean be done." What ean a class of Big Island 8th graders do against what has been done by the Navy? They tell us we are the future, we are the hope for something better; and before, it was in one ear

and out the other. But now I realize, as mueh as I don't want this to be on my shoulders, it really is true. We have to do all we ean. Kaho 'olawe is not the only plaee that needs help. But let's start small, let's start with something that never should have happened. Let's start with Kaho'olawe, plants stitching the wounds of the past. — Tyler Sumner KAHO'OLAWE Kaho'olawe, coated with bombs; the burning hot weather making the red dirt stick to us, creating a new shade of skin. We, working together as one, communicating like the new plants and the solid dirt, planted together. Kaho 'olawe, the breezy wind upon our backs. The waves fonn like a giant hand, grabbing all of what's in its way, adjusting its natural movement. Being there was the most incredible feeling, not worrying of what's on your mind. It takes whatever is on your mind, and it all disappears, leaving a elean pathway for you to relax and enjoy the moment. Time moves quickly. — Victoria Hall KAHO'OLAWE'S SECRET Kaho 'olawe, the piko island, the plaee of refuge The one peaceful island, Has an unknown secret. Not a terrible secret, but an ordinary secret Made by Kanaloa, many years ago. Kaho 'olawe, the first landing plaee, Will tell us its story; All we have to do is listen, listen very carefully. It will tell us of many things; Menehune, the others, Of all the things to be

told by an island It tells of the hurting; Metal, plastic, UXO. It tells of the massage of the trucks and mules, The feeling of plants and footprints. It lets us know of pain and pleasure. The secret of the island; Well, there's two. The island is dying, Soon to be a corpse of nutrients; But when the island moves on, something will happen. A new island will be born, and Kaho'olawe will be, too. The second one is more obvious; If you ever go there, you will know. Iust a feeling, no more; Kaho 'olawe will bring you back again and again. Onee again, I feel the wind in my hair, The rush of adrenaline, sitting in the back of a truck To the planting area, a giant Band-Aid To begin the cycle all over again. We act like fingers of a nurse, making the pain, Iust for a short time; then it feels better. Paul is like a doctor, always working, rarely by you, But always making you an eternal paradise. The plaee of refuge is a paradise onee again. — Jackson Halford HOPE I never thought that I would feel what I feel now for this land. I see the pain and sorrow when I look into the sand. What used to bear life is now reduced to nothing more than clay; but if we help we ean prove that there really is a way. — Jequita Koyama

MO'OMEHEU - CULĪURE

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