HOMESICK FOR KONA
Kona is an extra-enchanting place in Hawaii.
Tonight I am homesick, oh, homesick . . .for Kona . . . for Kona.
Homesick for friends and the glorious years when I knew it.
My thoughts are with Aunty Pinau, Lahi-lahi and None,
For the house on the beach with the song of the palms sighing through it.
I am laughing with Scotty and Ted and Earl. We are joyous.
Pua-lani is dancing a hula . . . I join in the dancing.
The song is a story of love, and the theme girl-and-boyish.
The moon joins the party and aids in the pagan romancing.
The torches of fishermen flicker and flare on the darkness.
Where the surf sounds it's drums in a rhythm of echoing thunder.
We race to the water and dive, stripped to ultimate starkness.
And loll in the waves while our hearts pulse with beauty and wonder.
The stars are so close that it seems we can pick them like flowers.
And string them on threads of the music like leis for our wearing.
Time is not measured by seconds nor minutes nor hours.
Only heart-beats to spend without counting or hoarding or caring.
Tonight there are ginger blooms spilling their moon-haunted fragrance.
The petals caress my hot flesh like the touch of ghost-fingers.
Tugging my heart into ways of remembering vagrance.
Dare I return to the place where the youth of me lingers?
Tonight I am homesick for Kona. My heart holds an aching.
Which can not be healed by the years, the scar of a sorrow.
I want to return for one night and the dawn's golden breaking.
There's a Clipper that's leaving. Oh, Kona . . . I'll see your tomorrow.
Don Blanding
