11.17.06: Poets lift the hale

VIDEO BY ROYD LIU

 

By Tracy Chan
Ka Leo Staff Writer

 

From the secrets that lie inside us, to how our lives are shaped by childhood, to the sensuality and passion of sex, to the dead ancestors whose stories we continue to live, poets spoke from their hearts at a recent poetry reading in the Kuykendall Auditorium, titled “Wendt and Young Poets Lift the Hale.”

Readers included University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa English professor Albert Wendt, English professor Brandy McDougall and graduate students Kimo Armitage, Ryan Oishi, Tammie Oka and Emelihter Kihleng.

McDougall started off, followed by Armitage, who read a series of poems about one of his trips to Tahiti.

He was followed by Kihleng, a poet from Guam. One of her poems emphasized the feeling of alienation growing up in a culture whose blood she does not fully share. But she also read a lighter series of poems dealing with a fictional woman and her exploits, put together as an assignment for Wendt’s class.

Oishi’s “Prayer for Surf” poem, published in Ka Leo last week, generated appreciative laughs from the audience.

“I’ve been working on the ironic voice,” he said.

To some, the irony was clearly evident in his words, as his poem prayed, “Lord, may there be no sharks in the water ... but if there are, please surround me with other surfers.”

Oishi sobered the audience with his last poem, a tribute to the dead buried at Punchbowl Cemetery.

Oka and her poems demonstrated versatility by covering topics like rape, alcoholism and coming-of-age in an informal style.

Finally, Wendt spoke. The established New Zealand poet said he was going to France to present some of his poetry after the poetry reading, and then he recited part of a long sequence of poems he wrote several years ago.

“You’re not French, so I don’t know how the French are going to react,” he said, “But I hope you like it.”

Wendt’s singsong orator’s voice transported the audience back to the days of European traders and native star navigators, who sailed the Pacific in canoes with only the stars and waves as their guides. His poem acknowledged both his own ancestors and the history of the Islands.

Following Wendt’s reading, there was a question and answer session, in which members of the audience got a chance to interact with the poets and ask them about their inspirations and accomplishments.

The audience consisted of students and professors from several departments, and each poet got a round of applause and a lei.

Details for the next poetry event on campus are uncertain, but Oishi promised, “We’ll put something together soon!”

 

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