Author’s note: Makahiki a seasonal festival of about four months, beginning roughly middle of October-depends on the positon of the Pleiades star cluster. Much playing of sports and games, and a taboo on war.
Pua the word for flower, and often a metaphor for children.
It is makahiki, the beginning of the rains
and through this falling fertility
the garden crying out
with a deeper, a darker gingery voice
to these young gardeners, listening to the soil
is a new language, and they snag only
a word here and there, now and then
maybe like the spiders in the orange tree,
waiting at the center of intricate webs
food is at the heart of all things, but
relearning a slow process of trial and error
they are slowly blanketing the soil
with organic decaying matter, and now
spraying a solution of indigenous
micro organisms, from ulu, bamboo
what have you, mixed with fermenting
juices of local fruits and brown sugar
replenishing and comforting the soil
resurrecting older ways, pua blossom
and learning is the thread of the web
mahalo e ke ‘akua
mahalo e ka mala ‘o Kaiao.
