Long Summer Days

*

Long the summer days

patterns on the ocean sand

our idle footprints

Shiki

Sanderlings on Hanalei Bay, Kauai

*

The Queen's Bath

Just around the corner

from where I am living 

in Princeville Kauai

is a steep path

that descends to the ocean

Daily dozens of car loads of tourists

come to bathe

in the Queen's Bath

Curious, I thought it was time

I took a look at the Queen's bath

so early one morning

I made my way 

down the red dirt track

passing little waterfalls

tumbling over lava rock boulders

that made their way into small pools

but hardly what you would call

a regal bath

and finally emerging at the ocean

mindful of the fact

that it was almost a year to the day

that I broke my left ankle

I decided not to clamber over 

the rugged lava rock

in search of royal ablutions

but it appears that in the past

others have taken 

greater risks than me

so I returned up the pathway

under the pandanus trees

and following the call 

of little brown birds

I walked along the bluff

above the ocean

hoping I could see what it was 

that enticed the holiday makers

down onto the hot black rocks

I could not see much 

other than the brown nameless birds

and the plainer coloured females

and then I noticed that I was in 

Wedge-tailed Shearwater territory

I skirted a patch of cactus

and almost fell down a hole

the Shearwaters nest in burrows

up to two feet long

that the birds make

in the cliff top

They are a dusky brown bird

with white breast feathers, 

thin wings, a hooked bill

and wedge shaped tail

They lay a single egg in June 

and take turns at incubation stints

The father does the honours first 

while the mother goes to sea to fish

for about 10 days at a time

Hawaii Information Image

The chick hatches after 50 days

and initially is fed stomach oil then solids

At 3.5 months the parents stop feeding the chick

For two weeks they go without food

testing their wings and learning to fly

When they have all their adult feathers they fledge

and go off to to sea

to find their own food

the neighbourhood dogs are a problem

in this colony

The birds cannot stand upright on their legs

and have difficulty moving about on land

The Hawaiian name 

for the Wedge-tailed Shearwater is ua'u kani

which means calling or moaning sea bird/petrel

due to their long oooo-errr call

I cautiously return to the ascending path

grateful that it is a dry day

and the red dirt is not slippery clay-mud

through the jungle

and home

No, this is not my house

but I love the gardens...

and proceeded to look up Mr Google

for pictures of the Queen's Bath

which does look rather enticing 

on a calm day

but the sea is unpredictable

and the waves 

can come crashing through

I think I'll do my swimming

in the safety of Hanalei Bay

*

My New Neighbourhood

*

Come with me

and I'll take you

for a pre dinner stroll

around my new neighbourhood

through an empty block

and across the verdant golf course

we can see the peak

of Bali Hai

along the road sides

the beautiful Frangipani,

called Plumeria in Hawaii,

is now flowering

in whites

and various shades

of pink and red-yellow

while the air is filled 

with gorgeous perfume

and the lawns littered 

with their spent petals

and over here

strident Birds of Paradise

claim their patch

I think

I shall be very happy here

in my new neighbourhood

for a few months...

*

Dance Me to the End of Love

*

My new daughter in law

had asked me to read a poem

at their recent wedding

Of course I thought of Gibran

whose words I love

and then I remembered Leonard Cohen
whose haunting songs

So Long Marianne

and Suzanne takes You Down
were much loved many eons ago
when Beloved and I were
the age of the newly weds

His newer and most beautiful song

Dance me to the end of Love

seemed entirely appropriate

and I was set...


I read the song
as a lead in to
the Wedding Dance

 

Dance me to the End of Love

Dance me to your beauty with a burning violin
Dance me through the panic til I'm gathered safely in
Lift me like an olive branch and be my homeward dove
Dance me to the end of love
Dance me to the end of love

Oh let me see your beauty when the witnesses have gone
Let me feel you moving like they do in Babylon
Show me slowly what I only know the limits of
Dance me to the end of love
Dance me to the end of love

Dance me to the wedding now, and dance me on and on
Dance me very tenderly and dance me very long
We're both of us beneath our love, and we're both of us above
Dance me to the end of love
Dance me to the end of love

Dance me to the children that are asking to be born
Dance me through the curtains that our kisses have outworn
Raise a tent of shelter now, though every thread is torn
Dance me to the end of love

Dance me to your beauty with a burning violin
 Dance me through the panic til I'm gathered safely in
Touch me with your naked hand or touch me with your glove
Dance me to the end of love
Dance me to the end of love

All paintings by Marc Chagall


*

Sunsets

*

 Each time we visit Kauai

we make a point

of going up to 

the old Sheraton Hotel

on the bluff

at Princeville

The hotel is now

called the St Regis...

Not because 

we like to swan around

in elegance and luxury...

although it is fun to pretend

Not because 

we may rub shoulders

with the rich and famous...

although that could easily happen

 Not because 

we miss the fresh sushi

made right there at the bar...

although that is very tasty

  

 Not because 

we need

a cool corona and lime

or a mai tai

or a pina colada...

although they are very enticing

No

for none of those reasons

We always like to drive

to the hotel 

at least once 

on our holiday

at the end of a Hanalei day

because it is from there

that you see

some of the best sunsets

in the world...

You can park your car

and walk around the bluff

posing with your beloved

in front of Bali Hai -

as a lasting memento

of your wonderful 

Tsunami wedding holiday

and then with drink in hand
Hawaiian melodies
as a serenade

and eyes over the ocean

you can watch

the sun send forth

its crepuscular rays

and take a final bow

behind the magical peak

of Bali Hai

and give thanks

for another happy day

*