HALF DOZEN DONUTS
I need some donuts.
How can I keep my opinions up
witout my half dozen donuts?
Virtually impossible.
To keep pace
I need wun sugar fix to fix da fix.
Yes, I’m responding
to da latest gossip around town.
Watevah it is
it needs addressing
cause deah’s new stuff
every adah day.
Da tsunami of comments
is ovahloading da ovahload.
From da idiot to da egghead
all kine viewpoints
are going around
and I going add to everyting too.
Eh, I love to contribute,
cause I stay community oriented.
Wen all da stories circulate
sometimes up is down
and down is up.
Consequently speaking
dis temporary rant is up too—
Dat is
until I visit da bakery
and finish my half dozen donuts.
SMALL KINE LUAU
If you saw Jeffrey
as wun young teenager wit his spear
at first you would wonder
wat he wuz doing.
He wuz wun tall skinny kid
walking around and looking down
in all da cracks
of da rock formations
dat lined da beach at Papailoa
between da sand and da sea.
Da single head spear dat he wen use
had wun barb on top
and if he wen nail someting
most likely
da ting wuzn’t going get away.
Jeffrey wuz searching
foa da many black island crabs
scurrying around
and hiding out
inside da cracks.
If you tink about it
dats not wun easy ting foa do
to catch crabs li’dat.
You figure every once awhile
you would hit someting
and maybe da ting
would stay on your spear
but if you kept watching Jeffrey
you would notice
dat he wuz scoring moa often den not
wit each thrust among da rocks.
Da fact dat he wuz doing dat
since he wuz five years old
wuz probably da reason
he wen perfect his special skill.
Jeffrey prided himself
in da payoff.
Wen da family got home
aftah spending da day at da beach
his maddah would take
da small bucket full of crabs
and she would wash ‘um
in da kitchen sink.
Den wit her thumb
wit each crab
she would flick open da top
like she wuz opening
wun locket
foa put some salt inside.
Fast food Hawaiian style
wuz right deah
aftah Jeffrey’s maddah
wen get wun bowl of poi
from da refrigerator.
Just watching her eat
wit full on enjoyment
in da small kine luau
made Jeffrey’s
crab hunting efforts
all da moa worth it.
luau Hawaiian feast.
poi Staple pudding-like food made from taro.
Joe Balaz writes in Hawaiian Islands Pidgin (Hawai’i Creole English)
and American English. He is the author of Pidgin Eye, a book of poetry.
In July, 2020, Balaz was given the Elliot Cades Award for Literature as an Established Writer. It is the most prestigious literary award given in
Hawai’i. Balaz presently lives in Cleveland, Ohio.