‘O ka ‘ano‘i aloha o ku‘u pu‘uwai

I am learning about love from the songs and stories of my ancestors. I am learning from the gentle and strong ways the earth teaches us about love by the way she loves us.

A love that knows reverence like my mother taught me to know ceremony.

A love that embraces like ‘ie‘ie, that knows how to hold and be held.

A love that is passionate with creation and fire. Resilient like the first kupukupu that grows when the pele cools.

A love that understands that we bloom and drop seeds like lehua, that we need rain like we need tenderness too.

A love that is delicate and strong at the same time like the leaves of palapalai when woven together into lei.

A love full of light and dance like the ‘ōlapa that stands on the hillsides of the lands I hold sacred.

‘O ka ‘ano‘i aloha o ku‘u pu‘uwai