O'ahu

[FranktheFrank]

Slack steel guitars ring out from O'ahu
drift on the short wave channel
fifty miles out from the island.

Kanaka Maoli friendly if distant
so many foreigners
roam the island.

Waikiki beach like any other beach
with sand like any other sand and waves
that smack the shore like any
other wave beaching on a shore.

Rows of surf boards
stacked towards the sky
we hadn't yet learned to ride.

We hired a car with a/c,
but supplied without, 'Where is it?'
we asked, and told in jolly tones
to open the windows.

Trekked to see a waterfall
higher than we'd ever seen before
otherwise like any other waterfall.

We circumvented the island
in ninety minutes, so small.
Saw no volcanoes,
no rivers of lava.

We saw, late in the evening,
oilers visit a quayside
brothel. Women in sad garments,
so poor in appearance
the wrong side of plain,
hawking their bodies.

We decided against visiting
the Arizona's resting place,
a sunken ship too painful
for mariners to see.

After a while the rolling
music began to pale.

[meenas17]

Hello or Aloha Frank,

O'ahu is an island with beaches like any other beaches, with waterfalls like any other waterfalls. It has no volcanoes, no rivers, or lava.The
Kanaka Maoli were distant as one can expect when so many foreigners visit the island.
The music of the guitar was heard. Nothing more to see.
The brothel with women in sad garments poor in appearance was an eye sore. it was frequented by the oilers late in the evening.
"Women hawking their bodies" -- an expression of great dimension. it is a trade. It is an offence. All for money.

Wishing not to see the sunken ship as it is painful adds to the mood of the poem which ends with the fading music.
After a while the rolling
music began to pale.

One could see through the grief, the poverty in the nothing extraordinary scenario.

Meena.

[FranktheFrank]

Thank you Meena,


I compare it to home and find home best.

[BobBradshaw]

Lovely poem, Frankly. I enjoyed this very much...

[FranktheFrank]

Thank you Bob.