IX. Ho'omanavanui

Persevering through life's hardships

Ho’omanavanui

I have known the grief of fresh 'Awapuhi that has been pulled from lepo momona,
Uprooted and thrown into a green 'ōpala bin for a Wednesday pick up,
Discarded by the hands of the 'ohana I trusted in my na'au.
Until I was cut from my mole. Until my safety wilted.

I have known the 'eha pu'uwai when kahu misuse kapu in our beloved hale pule,
Have seen them willfully choose to water he mea 'ulu wale.
But all of it led to a mana I did not muster on my own;
That when wahahe'e is planted, the pono will remain 'onipa'a in 'oia'i'o.

Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash

First, I want to credit Paul J. Pastor for the structure of this poem. Due to the load of grief on my shoulders, I’ve been struggling to write. However, ‘Wringing the Changes’ is one of the few poems that has grounded me in the midst of the pain; its structure helped me put into words what I’ve longed to express.

Secondly, I’m not a native Hawaiian, nor do I speak ‘Ōlelo Hawai’i. I’ve grown up around native Hawaiians and have soaked up the culture and some of the language. I could find no better imagery to express my ideas than by using the imagery from the culture I’ve been raised around; thus, this poem utilizes ‘Ōlelo Hawai’i.

Thirdly, if you’d like to hear the pronunciation of the words, I’ve attached an audio of me reading the poem.

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Translations

1. ‘Awapuhi: Ginger

2. Lepo Momona: Fertile Soil

3. ‘Ōpala: Trash

4. ‘Ohana: Family

5. Na’au: Refers to the intestines, guts; mind, heart, affections, intuition

6. Mole: Roots or ancestral root; foundation, source, cause

7. ‘Eha pu’uwai: Heartache

8. Kahu: Guardian, protector; often used to refer to pastors

9. Kapu: Hawaiian code of conduct of laws and regulations

10. Hale Pule: House of prayer or church

11. He mea ‘ulu wale: Weeds, or something that grows without care

12. Mana: Supernatural power

13. Wahahe’e: Lies, deceiving speech

14. Pono: Righteous

15. ‘Onipa’a: Steadfast

16. ‘Oia’i’o: Truth