1.<\/p>\n
We traveled for hours to a small Kohala town
\nfor the Bon dance to honor ancestors.
\nI suppose, now, a gesture for my education,
\nto learn another way of being in the world.
\nDad, Charlotte, and I may have been
\nthe only haoles there. Despite the crush
\nof the crowd, I wasn\u2019t anxious. Curious.
\nRed\u2014propitious\u2014dominated. Everywhere,
\nthe choreographed colorful swirl of movement.
\nUnfamiliar sounds resounded with respect.
\nNot sorrow for ancestors who have passed,
\nbut an atmosphere of celebration, of noisy joy.
\nWe used scrip for plates of Japanese food:
\nteriyaki chicken on skewers, sushi,
\nheaps of white rice, ume, mochi, sweets.
\nNone unknown to me. The portions, generous.
\nThis teenage haole boy, struggling to find
\na place in the world, accepted for once
\nwithout reservations, made to feel welcome.
\nI was in heaven.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
2.<\/p>\n
Dad believed in heaven and hell, claimed hell for him would be
\nhallways of tilted picture frames he would be forever adjusting.<\/p>\n
He and Charlotte attended the Hawaiian church in Puna. Dad
\ncarried his Hawaiian Bible, lifted his voice in readings and hymns.<\/p>\n
I think hell for him was burning pain within the frames of his lungs
\nfrom breathing; heaven a day without exhaust, smoke or fumes.<\/p>\n
This I believe: hell is man-made, here on Earth. I read and hear
\nthe headlines; what more evidence do we need?<\/p>\n
Heaven could be here on Earth\u2014if we loved the land and water
\nand air, if we loved other animals, if we loved each other.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
3.<\/p>\n
Along with Dad, I flirted with belief
\nin reincarnation. I found it intriguing,
\na comfort.<\/p>\n
One program night we rushed home Revelatory, to see a place for the first time, Long before any TV show we watched, Dad believed he had been there in a past life. Still, might love\u2014aloha\u2014for the land <\/p>\n 4.<\/p>\n In south Kohala 1. We traveled for hours to a small Kohala town for the Bon dance to honor ancestors. I suppose, now, a gesture for my education, to learn another way of being in the world. Dad, Charlotte, and I may have been the only haoles there. Despite the crush of the crowd, I wasn\u2019t anxious. Curious….<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":303,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"issue":[11],"coauthors":[250],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
\nto watch The Reincarnation of Peter Proud.<\/em><\/p>\n
\nyet know it.<\/p>\n
\nto his bedroom wall Dad pinned a photograph
\nof a littoral cone somewhere in Kohala.<\/p>\n
\nI believed him.<\/p>\n
\nand its people grant this familiarity?<\/p>\n
\nnear an ancient littoral cone
\na Hawaiian man, ageless,
\nin a malo, sits on a lauhala mat.
\nTaking the sun, breathing easily,
\nwatching waves roll in and out.
\nThin, arms corded,
\nthe bulk of his days behind him.
\nPerhaps a master carver
\nor other craftsman. Perhaps
\na kahuna specializing in geology.
\nPerhaps a storyteller
\nwith his p\u0101hoa dagger.
\nNow a kupuna, an elder.
\nBrilliant, aware
\nof blessings from his gods,
\nwearing breadth of knowledge
\nand power lightly
\nas a k\u012bhei on a chilly day.
\nI can\u2019t quite make out
\nthe landscape of his face.
\nI\u2019m comforted anyway.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"