Letters

Shame: In the Crosshairs of the Reaper

Wednesday, November 3rd, 2021

The white red and blue
just flew
reaper drones to Hawaii Nei.*

So, what would Lili’uokalani
Her Majesty The Queen
have had to say
today
as drone pilots train to play
God, absent
from the sky…

This is America?
Sorry,
that is a lie.

This is stolen land occupied by
uniformed women and men
with misguided aims and pride
drinking Mai Tai’s and hi-
jacking waves after nine-to-five’s
spent learning from hawks
just how to fly
wearing aloha shirts
never asking why
life is blurring
into a video game.

So, what would Lili’uokalani,
Her Majesty The Queen
have had to say
if she were alive today
if not
“SHAME”
as drone strikes continue
to kill and to maim
civilians
half a world
away
in the name of the same
people who came to her palace
locked her up
stole her kingdom and her crown
saying she’s the one to blame
because white always
thinks might makes right
and she was brown
just like those beautiful souls
in the crosshairs of the reaper
drones today
half a world away
from the pilots here in Hawaii Nei
where the white red and blue
have their true colors on full display
and the brightness in the eyes
of those who here remotely fly
the killer drones in far off lands
will soon be fading, by and by
to forever
grey.…

Peace and Quiet

Thursday, October 14th, 2021

Don’t you see everyone and me
down here planting mango trees
trying to find peace of mind and god
forbid, some quiet time
I can’t seem to find the reason you must rhyme
the past with the present
but your noise is unpleasant to say the least
as you rumble too close for comfort
in that death breathing beast
half helicopter, half dragon, half man, and half plane
your noise hurts more than just my ears
because I know why it is you train
and I’ve seen fire and I’ve seen the pain
that you rain down from your perch in the sky
from way up on high where you can’t see
their eyes, so you don’t see
the humanity of those you make die
and I hope at least you wonder why it is you fly
way too close behind an aging lie
as you train to kill by filling the sky
above places like here in Kaunakakai
with a rumbling, a thunder, a chop, chop, chop,
constantly cutting through the peace and quiet
and it never seems to stop
like a water drop dripping and dripping and dripping
and a scratched 45 record skipping and skipping and skipping
and they keep on shipping and shipping and shipping you
from here to where the west has already been through
at least a time or two or three or four
left,
right,
left,
right,
it’s always war that you’re preparing for
in these otherwise quiet and peaceful skies
where you always fly too close behind
American lies

Jayson R.…

The Cost of Water

Thursday, September 16th, 2021

It will cost you $15,000 for a glass of water on Molokai. Believe it or not, it’s true and it’s a shame. Anyone in our community that is unaware of this cost, if you want to get a water meter put in, then the cost to you is $15,000. 

Why is that? What’s the reason for the excessive cost? Who decided this amount?

Call and ask the County of Maui Water Department or maybe our county elected delegates, even the state delegates for Molokai. Somebody should explain to all of us in our community the reason for this cost. 

One very important thing to remember is after all is said and done, the County Water Department owns the water meter, you don’t own anything!…