Yet no one passing by stoops to retrieve
this fragment of our flag oddly
left to weather on the roadside.
Tattered and fading – so aren’t we all?
It’s really up to us now
to decide whether we are content
to lie on the roadside
among the litter and weeds
and simply weather away and die.
Now’s not the time to hesitate.
Pluck up your courage.
Pick up our remnant flag
and make its damaged self
still serve a unifying purpose.
Let it wave full and free again.
Make sure, however wounded in the fray,
it is not neglected or forgotten.
Aloha and e komo mai. I'm an author of prose and poetry born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaiʻi. I publish a daily rough draft here on my author site. Please read with me, comment, and please share your own writing. Mahalo for reading, and a hui ho.
Lanning Lee 