Return to Hawai'i
Crowds, worse than Grand Central.
Noise! – Nerves screaming.
Even the Delta Lounge
provided few seats and no respite.
T.V.s blaring news
I did not desire to hear.
Soon, Aloha will envelop my spirit.
Mahalo!
Comment: None needed.
The International Market
I'm seated under the century old banyan tree,
all that remains
of the historic International Market.
Shops like Fifth Avenue
replace the hawkers of the past.
In the merchant stalls of old,
five dollars bought you
the gamble for a pearl,
worth hundreds
as you studied a dexterous clerk
open the clamshell.
Alas, no fortune,
only a souvenir
to disappear in a drawer
and spotted years later.
Tee shirts cost
a walloping four for twenty.
Henna tattoos
left less than permanent marks.
Today a mere glance
into a window
staggers the monetary imagination.
Happily, the new,
brings more green space
and the chance to sit under the tree,
savoring Godiva covered strawberries.
Most gawkers in their shorts
pass the stylist window displays
as they meander
in this foreign world of opulence.
The few namesake bags
are often toted by Japanese visitors
who dominate the tourist trade.
All this otherworldly elegance
somehow seems soulless.
As with most change,
some feel sorrow
and others see progress.
The reality, all is a mere blip in history.
Comment: The tearing down of the old International Market in Waikiki caused a fire storm among local residents. Despite protests, money won. While I love the extra seating and places to relax, the new does not replace the old.
Return Again to V & M
A familiar scene
dominate the senses;
the view the same
except for a picture or two.
I am seated in the V & M,
my haunt from years past.
My returns to Ohio
always draw me to this favorite place,
where one can write
and enjoy eggs
with hash browns second to none.
A few servers’ faces have changed,
but Joyce remains.
She remembers my order
including a cup of hot tea.
Years pass,
but memories remain.
With those passings,
the familiar always beckons my ears.
Comment: Regular readers clearly understand this poem. Many a poem has started or finished in this family restaurant in Bellville, Ohio.