Wai is Why
Lihue, HI
2023, Senior, Poetry & Spoken Word
Climate Hero: Kaina Makua
On the westside of the ʻāina- the island of Kauai hidden in the mountain
Kaina Makua farms kalo
Deep inside the mountain Kaina Makua is a steward of wai
Deep inside the mountain wai nourishes his kalo
Deep inside the mountain water nourishes his taro
Deep inside the mountain is a cultural oasis of one that struggles to survive in the modern world
On the shoreline of Waimea lies the Kilohana Canoe club
The children canoe on the Waimea river
Waimea translates to reddish water like the hue of the blood that flows in me and you
The wai that flows from mauka leads to makai
The water that flows from the mountain inevitably leads to the ocean
The wai that flows here from mauka is the wai that nourishes Kaina’s kalo deep inside the
mountain
The wai is never ending
The wai is Hāloa
Like the legend of the god Wakea’s still born baby boy
Given the name Hāloa and buried
Hā meaning breath and loa meaning plenty of
From his resting place sprouted the first kalo plant
The same plant that nourished the Kānaka Maoli the natives until they didn’t
Kaina Makua farms deep inside the mountains of Waimea
Wai is life and we are all connected to one another to everything by it
Without wai we will cease
Kaina Makua is not a climate activist
Kaina Makua is a cultural protector
Kaina Makua is a Hawaiian fighting to exist in a world that keeps him from doing so
Kaina Makua like our Kūpuna-teacher passes his Mana’o-knowledge to the youth
Kaina Makua is not a climate activist by choice
He is a climate activist because as he sees it
Like the ancestors that had mālama’ed the āina before us
Malama’ed it for us
The ancestors that cared for the island before u cared for it for us
He mālama’s the aina because it malama’s us
We take care of it because it takes care of us
As children Kūpuna like Kaina Makua taught us that it is our kuleana our responsibility to
mālama the aina to mālama each other
There is no other ʻāina
There is no other earth
Why wai?
Wai connects us to everything
Wai is life
As Kaina Makua said, we steward the wai for our time being, and if that’s the case we should
steward it well
Reflection
Reflection
Climate activists are everywhere even when they don't call themselves one. I felt hot writing this, like I couldn't write my thoughts fast enough. The ʻāina- island of Kauai and even Hawaii are facing a multitude of impacts from climate change. Our corals are dying, our sea levels are rising, and the weather has grown unusual. People like Kaina Makua are not climate activists by choice, but by purpose. We only have one ʻāina, we only have one earth, and people like Kaina Makua are admirable and inspiring figures in a world that is so scary.