S.J. Stratso
USA

Going Home

I woke up when we were flying across the water,
Too early to see the island,
To feel the soft air, 
Hear the waves,
See Haleakala.

Haleakala, sleeping like a cat in the sun, mahana,
Waits to welcome me back home.
I feel its presence even now,
Crossing time zones, flying
In the chronotope.

Twenty degrees latitude, over 100 longitude,
This longitude versus latitude, means
The present is a refraction,
Not a reflection
Of the past.

From the years 1778 until the sad 1893,
From the first arrival, to the illegal
Takeover, to the Here and
Now – the Chant -
E ala E!

Finally - I see Haleakala – 
The House of the Sun, long dormant,
But still honoring its pledge to demi-god Maui, 
Arising, flexing its long-sheathed claws, it 
s-t-r-e-t-c-h-e-s
Out to welcome me, shimmering in that ethereal, 
iridescent glow
As I find myself flying mauka, no more, never 
again aloha kaumaha I ka home.

Copyright, S.J. Stratso.
All rights reserved by author.