Frances Kakugawa (2012 Poem In Your Pocket)

Orchidland Morning

by Kathy Wines

Sweet-tempered songs and trills of morning avian awaken the forest
Playful sprinkles of rain flit and dart adding a soft percussion rhythm
Gray skies brushed with streaks of pink bring a muted embrace
Brilliant shades of green dance in a profusion of differing tints
Fresh morning
Breathe in
Breathe out
Be attentive
So grateful
A symphony of splendor is at hand

Kathy is a teacher at a charter school in Hilo, Hawaiʻi. She received her B.A. in Linguistics from the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo, along with a teaching certificate, and Master of Education. Kathy and her husband enjoyed three years sailing on a 30-foot sailboat, exploring Mexico, French Polynesia, Cook Islands, and New Zealand. When it came time to settle down, the Big Island of Hawaiʻi proved to be the optimum place to swallow the anchor and start life ashore. When Kathy is not celebrating the joy of learning with her fifth graders, she came be found relishing in all that life offers on her island home, along with pursuing her dream of becoming a writer. Living amid an ʻōhiʻa lehua forest on the slopes of a volcano helps to create the perfect spot to let her creativity flow. Kathy can be reached at wines@hawaii.edu.

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Dusk at Kauaʻi Surf

by Frances Kakugawa

A sadness falls over me

As man’s torches

Replace the sun

Beyond the red mountains.

A giant Japanese fan

Ripples out in circlets

Around a mallard

As she dips her head

Into her wings

To nibble a bug

On the quiet pond.

Quietly the fan disintegrates

To the motor boat ripples

Trailing each mallard

Across the lake to shore.

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Overnight Guest

by Frances Kakugawa

i am an overnight guest
 in their brand new home,
  both girls, instead of pulling straws
   sleep with me
    on a king-sized bed
     with me sandwiched in the middle.

giggles, giggles, betwixt the sheets,
 ”go to sleep!” “stop poking me!”
  bring more giggles
   but even giggles soon get sleepy.

brandi is sound asleep on my right,
 nicole on my left slide to the edge,
  proclaiming, “I love to sleep near the edge.”

i curve one arm around nicole,
 holding her in before
  she falls like icarus
   into total darknness.

i lay awake, thinking of life,
 how some of us live near the edge
  taking risks, pursuing dreams, living
   outside of little white boxes,
    often teetering on one foot.

only in childhood do we know,
 someone’s arm is always there,
  holding us in from over the edge.

and this is how it ought to be
 when we are young and trusting
  in our parents’ home.

A local author and poet, Frances H. Kakugawa’s works include Kapoho, Mosaic Moon, and Wordsworth Dances the Waltz. She received a Ka Palapala Poʻokela Award for her keiki book Wordsworth the Poet.

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