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Excerpt from The Legend of Kapo, published by Reedsy.com August 2021. To read the entire story, click the button below.
May 1, 1850 Dearest Sister Annie, I am writing to you from Kona Hawaii on my third week as governess to her Highness Emma Rooke, whom most people call Emmalani... to my thinking, the Mermaids are a Western invention akin to Centaurs of Greek myth. Lost fishermen and missing sailors gave rise to half human creatures and sea goddesses. Here in Hawaii, each family honors simpatico creatures, their aumakua... I myself have witnessed the elders standing in the waves close to shore and CALLING to their aumakua, chanting in their musical way, raising their arms, an outstretched welcome, and Annie, I tell you, the sharks COME...On the island of Hawai’i, there is an active volcano which one can visit and see molten lava up close. It is like seeing God at his most awe inspiring to witness the creation of new land, Annie, reminiscent of those days when we saw God in the clouds as we laid on the grass in our favorite meadow...At the Talk Story, I learned that their goddess Pele had sisters, one of whom was called Kapo. This goddess had a most unusual talent. I am struggling to convey what I heard at that meeting in Waipio for it involves a woman’s’ private parts... |
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Here is an excerpt from the memoir vignette/short story that was published by Reedsy.com in 2020:
...My late brother Chris and I were having a conversation one of those many times at the end of the day when he needed a toke. I would light up the joint, hold it to his lips, then pull it away after he inhaled. He would hold onto the smoke for a minute, exhale, then take a second, then a third. I’d puff on it sometimes, but home was twenty to forty minutes away by car. He lived up in the Oakland Hills, and I had to get back to San Francisco. Nowadays, you can count on an hour or more in travel time anytime you have to cross the Bay. I don’t know how he persevered with such kindness and grace. He was the best one of us three, a healthy normal boy until the accident that left him a quadriplegic at fourteen. We passed the time with gallows humor. I’d say “Hey you, here’s the good news, at least you’re not a blind quadriplegic – that would be worse.” And Chris would say “I feel lucky, oh so lucky.” and we’d snort-laugh.... |