Lahaina Noon can occur anywhere
on earth should the sun pass overhead.
In that moment it’s directly above you,
you and nothing around will cast a shadow.
It has nothing to do with Lahaina, Maui.
It is actually spelled Lā Haina, “cruel sun,”
also known as “kau ka lā i ka lolo,”
“the sun rests upon the brain.”
The sight is surreal with no shadows anywhere,
as if everything has conspiratorially disapparated,
or as if nothing were any longer anchored
to earth, everything eerily turned to bobbing balloons.
You may think, if you are caught by surprise,
that you are being pranked, but by whom
only the shadow knows, meaning nothing
knows a thing in that instant of vanishing.
Lanning Lee 