Three poems for Hawaii

                    I

Beneath the canopy

Of towering mango, coconut, albizia and gunpowder trees

The jungle swells in sun-lit waves of green  

Like the belly of a pregnant woman,

Her womb extending for miles across Puna1

 In layers and layers of luminous green upon green.

 

Within, lush ferns and wild grasses

Compete for sunlight
Where boar trails meander

Amidst wild guava trees

And, occasionally, one finds

A small patch of wild orchids that arise

Like the face of an infant that dreams

Inside its mother.  

Here a multiplicity of flora strive     

To fulfill their highest expression,

Each relentlessly climbing for sunlight 

As if squeezed toward parturition.

 

When it rains,

The damp, sweet air inside the jungle

Is like amniotic fluid 

As the passing clouds over Hawaii

Spill drops from off the ocean as they will

Every day, sometimes every hour.

 

                           ************* 

                                II

In my camp deep inside the Puna jungle

A sudden eruption rips through the canopy:

The cries of cardinals

Symphonize around an urgent group call-

Chigo!   Chigo!   Chigo! 

                                                                                                                  

This is rare.  A truly

Stupendous commotion in the jungle!

Never before have I heard the cardinals

Sound this call for so long!

Chigo!   Chigo!  Chigo!

They have all gone off like synchronized clocks

For at least fifteen seconds,

Their collective soul ringing like Monads 

Inside a network of sense and instinct,

An emotion of mirrored recognition amongst themselves

Of some urgent, prime event. 

 

But what?

The commotion dies down..
Whatever its cause, it was stupendous.
Nonetheless, for me it is
Just one more mysterious occurrence
The sign and signification of which
I will never know or understand.   

What did the cardinals say?

Was it a cry of victory or a cry of fear?

 I can't say.

                   ************ 

                          III

The weathered Tibetan prayer flags

Sway between the branches of a tree near my camp,

Heavily-worn to their last threads by the elements.

They too symphonize, but soundlessly,

Their constant supplications 

Swaying the winds of karma-

The prayers tangling and untangling themselves

From the branches that together toss in the ocean breeze.

 

Each one is a spiral dorje',
A diamond lightning bolt of magical intention

Compassionately made to appease the karma

Of all sentient beings.

 

I have faith in the efficacy of each flag

Until they are completely in tatters.

1) The Puna district lies at south-easternmost tip of the Big Island of Hawaii. It's main town is Pāhoa. The district is long-known for its free-spirit and locals are known as "Punatics". It is also the main volcanic area in the state, with Mauna Loa and Kilauea nearby. Puna is "volcano country". 

2)  Cardinals are to be found everywhere in Hawaii. They are by far the most common bird on the Big Island.