First Lady Mrs. Ige of Hawaii Reads Wordsworth the Poet

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.

Join me at Wordsworth Musical

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-5^th.

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.

Wordsworth the Musical

https://www.ahahanakeaka.org/

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.

Wordsworth Musical

https://www.ahahanakeaka.org/

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.

End of Summer

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

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.)

Cow 1 is not Cow 2*

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.

To Florida

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.”

1. Joyful
2. Happy
3. Gleeful
4. Cheerful
5. Jolly
6. Jovial
7. Merry
8. Chirpy
9. Glad
10. 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

To Florida

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.”

1. Joyful
2. Happy
3. Gleeful
4. Cheerful
5. Jolly
6. Jovial
7. Merry
8. Chirpy
9. Glad
10. 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

Hey Putin

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.