To the Bone
Kailua, HI
2024, Senior, Poetry & Spoken Word
Hoʻi hou i kai iwi kuamoʻo,
return to the backbone.
The channel calls you home,
with the winds’ whistle.
Fishermen turned into fish hooks,
pride deteriorated down to the bone, exposing all that is left;
the raw self is revealed.
Skeletons of lost travelers scattered across Kaʻiwi’s shores,
challengers of her violent rage.
She is lost now.
It is haunting that her cries can no longer be heard.
Once known for her strong winds, her Kualau, soon to be no longer.
Violent rage silenced,
doldrums shifted,
too hot to scream through the winds,
Kaʻiwi is forever changed.
Courage is facing the fear, accepting the challenge
to face her beauty with my own eyes.
Working with the current, for there is no chance against the beast.
I feel the pressure building, building, building underneath the belly of the hull—
that’s when to press.
Follow, follow, follow the crests down her coast
as our ancestors once followed the stars above.
ʻOahu lies beneath Hokupaʻa (north star).
We don’t look back to Molokaʻi; we voyage forward.
Hitting the wall of exhaustion,
there are no winds left to help.
ʻOahu is only an outline in the sky,
the only option is to persevere or be left as shark bait
another victim added to the graveyard.
Great legends have challenged Kaʻiwi’s daring body of water:
Eddie Aikau, the world’s best waterman,
now one with Kaʻiwi forever.
Storm surges never surrender,
hurricanes growing more prevalent, her warming waters churning constantly.
Can the voyage be more impossible?
No winds left to aid
Kaʻiwi is suffocating without her breath;
Kaʻiwi needs to be crossed;
Kaʻiwi is our connection to our ancestors.
Hoʻi hou i kai iwi kuamoʻo,
Return to our culture.
Return to the water from which we were born.
The backbone of our character,
the strength of our people.
Kaʻiwi is our sacred source,
May her winds never be silenced.
Reflection
Reflection
My poem is inspired by my one man canoe paddling crossing of the Kaʻiwi Channel and how the channel has been impacted by climate change. After training for over four months for the daring journey, I was almost unable to compete in the channel crossing due to historically big surf from a storm system. Climate change has warmed the ocean, in turn increasing and intensifying hurricanes. The doldrums have also shifted, changing the famous strong winds of the Kaʻiwi Channel to days where there are no winds at all. Crossing the Kaʻiwi Channel is very spiritual and serves as a connection to Polynesian ancestors who voyaged the same waters between Molokaʻi and ʻOahu. Kaʻiwi translates to “the bone” which can be interpreted as the bones of lost voyagers such as Eddie Aikau, who could not survive the treacherous conditions of the open ocean. Bones in ancient Hawaiian culture relate to a spiritual bond and sacred power to their ancestors. In the moʻolelo “The Wind Gourd of Laʻamaomao” Kaʻiwi is described as “returning to the backbone,” back to cultural roots. After getting to challenge the Kaʻiwi Channel and experience paddling between Hawaiian Islands, I am motivated to protect the ocean even more than before the crossing. I want to make sure that the next generation of paddlers, swimmers, voyagers, water women, and watermen get to experience the Kaʻiwi Channel without dangerous storms canceling the races. It is difficult for one person to stop the oceans from warming, however I can take steps to inform others about climate change problems and do smaller acts to keep Kaʻiwi Channel and its aquatic life clean and safe.