Charlene
Charlene
wun wahine wit wun glass eye
studied da bottom
of wun wooden poi bowl
placed in wun bathtub
to float just like wun boat.
Wun mysterious periscope
rising from wun giant menacing fish
appeared upon da scene.
Undahneath da surface
deeper den wun sigh
its huge body
lingered dangerously near da drain.
Wun torpedo laden scream
exploded in da depths
induced by Charlene
who wuz chanting
to da electric moon
stuck up on da ceiling.
Silver scales
wobbled like drunken sailors
and fell into da blue.
No can allow
to move da trip lever on da plunger
no can empty da ocean
no can reveal da dry porcelain ring
to someday be scrubbed clean.
Charlene
looked at all da ancestral lines
ingrained on da bottom of da round canoe
floating on da watah
and she saw her past and future.
Wun curious ear wuz listening
through wun empty glass
placed against da wall
and discovered
dat old songs wuz still being sung
echoing like sonar
off of da telling tiles.
Joe Balaz writes in Hawaiian Islands Pidgin (Hawai'i Creole English) and American-English. He has also created works in music poetry and visual poetry.