Not even with a thirty meter telescope
will we be able to see
all the damage done to the ‘āina already
we won’t see polluted aquifers and an ailing reef
we won’t see the monk seals and turtles
laying on beaches filled with torn fishing nets
and sun bleached plastic
washing up by the ton with every storm.
Desecration has become the norm
but you want Hawaiians to conform?
you want Kanaka Maoli to trust you
as they sift black plastic from the soil
of the old pineapple fields
where native forests used to grow?
you want Kanaka Maoli to trust you
as they watch the ocean bleed red
every time it rains and the land melts into the sea?
you want them to stand by and trust
that you will be good stewards of the aina,
like you were with Kaho’olawe?
‘Progress’ has never paid
for these descendants of great navigators
who were taught to revere Columbus in grade school
who were taught to pledge allegiance
to the same government that drew a target on their backs
for Imperial Japan
and draws a target on their backs
for the North Koreans
the same government that sends them to kill farmers in Afghanistan
the same government that sends them to kill fishermen in Yemen
the same government that sends them to private prisons in Arizona
the same government that wants them to believe
that their real history began with statehood in 1959
the same government that wants them to believe
that ‘we know what’s best for you’
and that only the bible is allowed to be sacred
just ignore that part about ‘thou shalt not steal’
and ignore that part about ‘thou shalt now kill’
ignore all the dead bodies that are still piling up
all on account of the west
all in the name of progress
just fall in line
and dress right, dress
