Kaleimomi told me the story as Hilo rains
were dancing across Waiakea Pond.
The car drove itself, he said, turning here
and there, a weave from corner to corner until
it stopped in front of an old house, abandoned
and entwined with maile vine, the windows
behind bushes, the door guarded by a four-foot
hive of bees. He exited the car and stood,
non-blinking, as if in a daze. “Don’t go,”
his wife shouted, thinking of his allergy
to venom, but he couldn’t stop, and enshrouded
in a mist, he stole safely by the bees.
Inside stood a wooden table, laced with strands
of cobwebs. On the table were ekolu mea ku’i,
three poi pounders. From deep inside his gut,
a voice spoke to him “Take kēia ekolu mea ku’i,
guard and protect the three poi pounders for
future generations.” So he gathered the three poi
pounders, and again enveloped in mist, he strode
safely out, past the bees stitching at the empty air.
Later his father would ask, “Do they have names?”
And on this asking the names appeared to Kalei.
“Yes, they do, Father. Faith, Hope, and Charity.”
I listened as the rain kneaded the earth. Hilo
is famous for its Kanelehua rain, but today’s
fruitful rain is heavier, pounding the soil,
dancing. A taro plant trembles by the pond.
Illustration credits: Ring type and Pedestal type Poi Pounders found only on the Island of Kauai on display at the Kauai Museum. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ring_type_and_Pedestal_type_Poi_Pounders_found_only_on_the_Island_of_Kauai_on_display_at_the_Kauai_Museum.jpg#/media/File:Ring_type_and_Pedestal_type_Poi_Pounders_found_only_on_the_Island_of_Kauai_on_display_at_the_Kauai_Museum.jpg
Taro plant image: Source:Bouba. via Wikimedia Commons. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Songe-R%C3%A9union.JPG. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.5 Generic license.
Teaser photo credit: One of the largest taro-growing areas in the Hawaiian Islands is on Kauaʻi, in the Lower Hanalei Valley. By Bealbrown at en.wikipedia – Took summer of 2005 in Kauai'i, Hawai. Transfered from en.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3315618
