On Nuuanu Avenue in Honolulu

by Brian Doyle

While clutching my own tooth in my hand like a best man
Grips a wedding ring so tightly his fist hurts for days after,
I encounter a man who confides he is the Incarnated Spirit
Of Admiral Chester Nimitz. I ask him where is the dentist?
Is an excellent Japanese dentist on Punahou Street, he says.
I start to shuffle away, because I am holding my own tooth!
My head is falling apart! Pieces of me are fleeing the ship!!
But the man falls into step with me and says most earnestly
You attend to me now, sir, please. I am the admiral restored
To this life, in the very city where I am held in most esteem.
There is a grade school named for me here. This pleases me.
And a yoga parlor and a highway. This pleases me. Yes, yes.
Punahou Street is not far; aim that way. Tell them I sent you.
My name is still magic in these streets; you will see this, yes.
Is that your real tooth? Why are you carrying it in the street?
Is there magic in it? Would you like to sell it to me? Miracle
Things come in every size package; there is me, for instance.
By now we have arrived at the dentist, and the Admiral sails
On alone down the street. I ask the genteel dentist about him.
O yes, Admiral Nimitz, courteous man, we pulled his molars,
Says the dentist. Refused anesthesia and never made a sound.
He said certainly some of the men who served under him had
Had the same painful experience and he would do as they did.
Very courteous man, carried himself with remarkable dignity.
But that’s what we would expect of a man who made admiral,
Yes? Now to work. Are you carrying any other of your teeth?

Literary Tea

A few images from our recent Literary Tea. Thanks to Pam Woolway for these photographs.


Above: Finalist Rocky Riedel shares.


Above: Winner Kimberly Kirk presents her image.


Above: Winner Bettyjo Dux shares.


Above: Jodi Ascuena and Melissa Kemp serve tea.

To see more photos of the event, please visit this website, generously shared by Anne E. O'Malley and John Ullis.

"Postcards" Finalist

[Editors' note: This is the 12th and final in a series of posts honoring the winners and runners up of Kauai Backstory's fourth annual Creative Competition. The theme was "Postcards." This entry by Aliana Ho, 8, was a student finalist.]

Angry people only see rain clouds, storms and fire.
That blocks the beautiful view of love and truth.

"Postcards" Finalist

[Editors' note: This is the 11th in a series of posts honoring the winners and runners up of Kauai Backstory's fourth annual Creative Competition. The theme was "Postcards." This entry by Ela Young was a student finalist.]

I can feel my heart flutter as I watch the first sun rays caress the silhouettes of the trees and plants that grow along the river
I smile, knowing that I am going to enjoy another day in this paradise
I remember how grateful I am to be here, as I watch the crystal blue water break onto a shore that I have fallen in love with
I don’t want to be anywhere but here, where the land is bountiful and giving, where the people smile as they pass me
This Island is beautiful in every sense of the word

"Postcards" Finalist

[Editors' note: This is the 10th in a series of posts honoring the winners and runners up of Kauai Backstory's fourth annual Creative Competition. The theme was "Postcards." This entry by Rocky Riedel was a finalist.]

Embraced

A broken piece of plastic poked its head out of the midnight sand.
The ocean, wearing its lacy white negligee
tiptoed in and kissed the flotsam’s faded skin
making tears stream down its face.
Slowly, gently,
the ocean caressed the castoff’s rough edges
until it lay there softened
uncovered
naked
exposed.

Then the ocean waved silken sheets over the cast away
merging it, bedding it, into the sand.

Where it remains to this day.

As do I.

Safe and sound.
No longer adrift.

"Postcards" Finalist

[Editors' note: This is the ninth in a series of posts honoring the winners and runners up of Kauai Backstory's fourth annual Creative Competition. The theme was "Postcards." This entry by Hob Osterlund was a finalist.]

Birds tell riddles. After dark, Kaua’i shearwaters bray overhead as if donkeys could fly. Softly-named boobies are sharpened spears. I’iwi beaks are commas, a puzzle penned by a run-on sentence. Stilts walk on their names. Koleas don tuxedos and sprint to Alaska. Nenes calmly graze, as if they hadn’t just yesterday clung to extinction’s calamitous cliff. Hummingbirds are moths. Coots get religion and walk on water. An albatross moos like a cow and flies farther than the moon. Gallinules fetch fire from the gods; soaring ‘iwas summon pterodactyls. Red-tailed tropicbirds fly backwards, their trailing banners daring you to GO FIGGAH!

"Postcards" Finalist

[Editors' note: This is the eighth in a series of posts honoring the winners and runners up of Kauai Backstory's fourth annual Creative Competition. The theme was "Postcards." This entry by Polli Oliver was a finalist.]

RAINBOW

Away from the drizzling rain
Under the shelter of
a wise old mango tree
A small tousle haired
dark skinned boy
sits, with tear streaked face
his faithful lop-eared poi-dog puppy
by his side

Alerted by the chirp of
a cheerful nearby redbird
he glances up
sees the brilliant rainbow
and smiles

"Postcards" Finalist

[Editors' note: This is the seventh in a series of posts honoring the winners and runners up of Kauai Backstory's fourth annual Creative Competition. The theme was "Postcards." This entry by Tamara Moan was a finalist.]


Postcard of Stars

The night sent
a postcard of stars
to greet me when I woke.
Dreams drifted
in the dark at Kokee,
still far from morning.
Sitting in the hush
I watched that square of sky,
waiting until a shooting star
blazed through the black.