we try to give the river
the same sized attention
we give the ocean.
since the great māhele
our water has tasted expensive.
some rivers fall into rainbows:
this is a form of shaka.
thick aloha can be achieved
by fashioning a bed from monstera
& lying under the sky. to learn aloha
go to the falling river
& collect the raindrops
of a lehua blossom.
every river on the island
has flown through you
from before time
before you
were ever here.
— M.G. Martin
A 2018 W.S. Merwin Creative Teaching Fellow, M.G. Martin is a podagee poet, from Hawai’i island, who teaches middle school English on Maui. Find him at mgmartinpoetry.tumblr.com and @m.g.martin