Thank you, Mrs. Ige, for reading the first book in my series of Wordsworth the Poet who resolves human problems through his poetry. What an honor to Wordsworth and myself.
Big Islanders, come join me at UH Hilo theater for Wordsworth musical.
Wordsworth Musical Dates:
University of Hawaii, Hilo Theater presents Wordsworth Musical on:
November 1-2-3: Day performances for students K-5th.
November 4-5: 7 p.m. performances for the public.
November 6: 2 p.m. performance for the public.
This musical is based on Wordsworth the Poet and Wordsworth Dances the Waltz.

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Wordsworth the Musical, based on my first two Children’s books is presented here in film and in Hawaiian with subtitles. The English version will be presented live on stage in the fall for the public and all school students, K-5th.
Am having problems with this blog…you will need to navigate on the site till you get to Wordsworth to see the musical play.
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Wordsworth Musical, based on my two Wordsworth children’s books can be viewed on this site. This is the one in Hawaiian with subtitles. The English version will be presented live on stage in the Fall. You may need to do some searching to find Wordsworth on this site.
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I was privileged to write the Foreword to this novel by Dan Shanahan. Please check this out on Amazon.
Foreword
End of Summer captures the essence of what happened after Pearl Harbor:
Under the rising sun,
the enemy came,
wearing my face.
End of Summer returned me, not to the fact that we were treated like the enemy, but to three basic Japanese teachings I grew up with : Shikata ga nai ( it can’t be helped, it is what it is), Gaman ( to endure the unbearable with patience and dignity) and Bachi ( Divine punishment or Karma)
Two cultures meet on American soil, immigrants from Germany and Japan, to live the American dream.As the story unfolds, a piece of farmland, taken from the Japanese when they are sent to an internment camp, becomes more than property – and the consequence of a decision made by both the German and Japanese extend into their future generations.
The story is told behind a silk fan, the quiet and dignified undercurrents and loud silences, half concealed, become a pair of threads from both cultures that weave together throughout the story. As with others of Dan Shanahan’s works, there is that large twisting gasp at the end . . . so the reader is advised not to skip to the ending. You need to experience this gasp exactly where it appears. The beautiful use of language and the well-developed characters from two cultures will endure long after you read the last word.
Frances H Kakugawa
Author of Echoes of Kapoho and Dangerous Woman: Poetry for the Ageless


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In the midst of chaos
Be still, be still.
Shhhh.
What will poets do
Without the first bloom of Spring
Waltzing in the wind?
What will children do
Without slimy green frogs
Slipping through fingers?
What will Basho have seen
Without the leap of the frog
Splash! Then stillness again?
What will you do
Without the sound of stillness
In the morning dew?
What will I do
Without hummingbird wings
Whirring in sync?
Hush hush,
Be still, be still
Listen.
(Written after turning off the radio.)
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Still unable to post poetry in poetic stanza….grrrrrr…..
Under the rising sun
The enemy came
Wearing my face.
After Pearl Harbor, I became the enemy
After 9/11, another enemy.
After Covid-19, another Asian enemy.
Again, another enemy who wears Putin’s face.
Cow 1 is not Cow 2.*
Putin brutalizes Ukraine
Your Russian neighbor is not Putin.
Careful, careful, Cow 1 is not Cow 2.
My ancestors bombed Pearl Harbor,
I became Cow 1. Yet, Cow 1 is not cow 2.
Such a simple, uncomplicated rule.
* Semanticist S.I. Hayakawa wrote this on the blackboard when I was a young student at his feet. He explained: You are driving along and see a cow. Driving along the road, you see another cow. That cow is not the first cow you saw.
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Dear Boys and Girls,
The Governor signed a law that forbids us to say “Gay” in our classroom.
Beginning today, except in one instance, you will not say “Gay. Don’t look sad, you can still say “Gay” with synonyms. Come up to the board and write another word for “Gay.”
- Joyful
- Happy
- Gleeful
- Cheerful
- Jolly
- Jovial
- Merry
- Chirpy
- Glad
- Devil-may-care
Good work, class. Keep adding to our happy list.
Now, it’s story time. I’m reading a book that has been censored. Not to worry, you are going to hear this book, not read it, so I’m sure you won’t be arrested for reading.
Your teacher,
Miss Gay
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Dear Boys and Girls,
The Governor signed a law that forbids us to say “Gay” in our classroom.
Beginning today, except in one instance, you will not say “Gay. Don’t look sad, we can still say “Gay” with synonyms. Come up to the board and write another word for “Gay.”
- Joyful
- Happy
- Gleeful
- Cheerful
- Jolly
- Jovial
- Merry
- Chirpy
- Glad
- Devil-may-care
Good work, class. Keep adding to our happy list.
Now, it’s story time. I’m reading a book that has been censored. Not to worry, you are going to hear this book, not read it, so I’m sure you won’t be arrested for reading.
Your teacher,
Miss Gay
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My new blog is posted below this. Can’t figure out why. grrrrrr.
Hey Putin
Sit back a week or two
With your Russian predecessors
Etched in the world with admiration and honor
Unlike tyrants, murderers, war criminals
Covered with ashes and human blood,
On dusty back shelves of Russian history.
***
Listen to Tchaikovsky’s symphonies –
Spend an evening with Swan Lake –
Get on your yacht with Leo Tolstoy
And War and Peace.
***
You wish to be the most feared?
The most statued figure in all of Russia?
Be among the true greats of your history books?
Pick up your pen, Putin.
***
Poets were feared more than the KGB
During days of famine and war.
Pick up your pen, Putin,
Write a poem or two or more.
****
On the shelves of 891.71, between
Tsvetaeva and Pushkin
There is space for you.
***
A statue of Putin
In St. Petersburg and Leningard
Poet of Peace.
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