Hōlanikū Update #2

Oceans of wisdom was over me like prayer
And just like the tide I breathe in my power
I take a strong mountain inhale
One hand over my heart
One hand over my core
Connecting to islands above and beneath the sea
Feeling the same glow of the sun that my mother named me after
Upon my darkening moana skin
I have become kai uli
And kai uli has become me
Remembering that I come from a long line of rememberers
As my sister in aloha 'āina once reminded me of
I return carrying the images of my ancestors on my hands, my legs
I present them as offering to this land I have long loved
And have long yearned to see again
My skin and bones have meet with the bones of the masters of the wind
And it was the sharp edges of their iwi, the hands of experts
And the sound of wood hitting wood
That created the pathways of my kupuna on the pathways of my body
I have returned bringing with me a sacred lei
To adorn the ancient pillars of Kahiki
To honor the lineages of people who never forgot where we came from
To honor the lineages of people who will come after us
People we will never meet but who we already love
Aloha 'āina is eternal
It is our highest offering to our ancestors and our descendants
It is our sacred promise to do everything we can to heal and help the land heal too
To remember so that they will not forget
That we are still here
We are still here
We are still here
And we are still praying
We are still loving
We are still living
We are still Kanaka
We are still Hawai’i
I feel the love of my ancestors with me every day
I feel their prayers with me every day
And so I pray and I chant and I sing
And I do what I can to help tell our story
Alongside the many storykeepers of our time
So that one day many, many years from now
Hawai'i and our lahui will still feel our prayers
They will still hear our chants
They will still hear our songs
And they will remember
And they will pass it down
And so it is
And so it shall be
Kau na 'eheu kehau o ka li'ula
He pokaka'a
Kuwelu ihola ke ao
A ho mai ka na'auao
He papaku
Haku maila ke konane mahina
He akua
Ua ao
Ua ola
Ua noa
Noa honua
'Amama ua noa
A lele wale ia Hōlanikū