Goddess Sighting

Aloha,  Friend!

"Youth, large, lusty, loving -- 

Youth, full of grace, force, fascination.

Do you know that Old Age may come after you

with equal grace, force, fascination?"

Walt Whitman

"When you possess light within,

                                                       you see it externally." 

       Anaïs Nin

The saint is the one

who walks through the dark paths

of the world, 

himself a light."

Felix Adler

If you must speak ill of another,

do not speak it,
write it in the sand

near the water's edge."

Napoleon Hill

Time To Go!

"Inside my empty bottle

I was constructing a lighthouse
while all the others were making ships."

Charles Simic

<<:>>

The Hawaiian Goddess of the volcano,

the builder of these isles,

is mostly associated with the Big Island 

where she is still pouring

hot lava,

and still regarded by Hawaiians

(real, ethnic Hawaiians)

as 'Tutu Pele'  Grandmother Pele. 

It is in those lands that she is most often seen.

She can be young & beautiful, 

or incredibly aged - 

and beautiful in a different way.

There are stories of locals

giving Pele a ride without knowing it- 

till later.

Like after the lovely young Hawaiian girl

riding in the car with them

begins to seem more mature

than they first had thought;

till she lights a proffered cigarette

with her finger tip

and asks to get out no where in particular

as a smiling great grandmother.

The day I saw Pele

I was riding my motorcycle

down the last stretch of Kaena Point coast road

along Keawaula Beach,

(better known as Yokohama Bay 
or 'Yokes')

all the way out on Oahu's western tip;

considered a leaping-off place 

for souls leaving this world.

Riding along in the flower of my years

I noticed an aged Hawaiian woman

walking on the roadside with her little dog.

She radiated - something-

taught me - something-

all without a glance,

greeting, or words

Seeing her opened wisdom to me, 

like a gift.

I saw how little it takes to be happy

when one is open to the simple glory

that surrounds.

"A place to sleep out of the rain,

a day relatively free of pain,

a companionable pet

disability and death:

not yet."

An insight, a grace, a gift.

I sometimes think of that

when I'm bereft.

How little it really takes

to be a slightly stooped goddess

walking down this road. . .

Thanks for walking with me a ways.

Your comment is a lovely gift; leave one! 

         warmly, cloudia