Is it true, my guide asks, that America views this as a third-world countryThat we consider Egypt’s development to be…
One Way of Looking
This morning while I was working in the yardI looked up and saw a mynah birdPerched on a limb of…
On the Clock
The catch is always just one slip upIt fits as an apt prescriptive descriptionI’m what I’ve become so here I…
At the Bar
I felt the slight pressure on my shoulder The kind that promises the ride of your life, Before you read…
The Swans at Wells
An elderly gentleman beams red-facedNeatly bearded and dressed in a black tuxedoHe stands in the park feeding birdsBehind the Wells…
The Bird Lady of Āliamanu
She was a lover who’d found something to love wholeheartedlyEveryone knew her as the Bird Lady of Āliamanu IntermediateThe school…
The Former Bird Lady of Queen’s Surf
My maternal grandmother often went to Queen’s SurfWhere she’d sit and feed the birds They recognized her and would flock…
The Bird Lady of Castle Memorial
She had a thing for birdsMolded out of clayWoven with yarnEmbroidered on her clothes She did that with the Aloha…
The Birds of Kuykendall Hall
There was an inspirational reason behind the design detailThose novel three stories of floor-to-ceiling glassThe grand transparent window walls of…
Life from Death
I find these bodies often in the yardRaking, I’ll come across a nestAnd lying nearby, a baby, featherlessBrought down by…
Last Flight
Birds have that gift of flightTheir lives so simple seemingEating and sleepingBusy nest buildersTrue, they have predatorsFrom which we couldn’t…
A Fan with a Plan
There are 30 minutes to go before the start of the game. Not many fans of either team are seated…
End of Session
None of our tough questions get answeredHard heads and tight lips and red facesHiding truths under armor cracks of brief…
The Friendly Stranger in the 1974 Black Mercury Marquis
When he stepped out of his carI stood still in Mānoa Shopping CenterI thought he was Tom SelleckBut on second…
Litterbug
As he headed down McCarthy Mall to the faculty union meeting in Kuykendall Auditorium, Dr. Terry Hong saw a boy…
A Smile
Where it came from, I had no way of knowing. Perhaps it crawled up from the stream below my house.…
Daily Mantra
All the weeds in my yard will disappearNo tree branches or leaves will ever fallThere will never be a line…
Keep On Keeping On
In the way you sayIn the shape and in the formIn no uncertain termsEven if it falls exactly as you…
All Life’s Noise
Listening to nothing in the cool morningI smile as Buddha would if I only wereAnd blow a kiss that molds…
Off Script
Some song about what goes on under the coversI’ve never experienced quite the same frantic anticsAs seen on TV or…
Lanning Lee 