She happened to be wun fan
of da Baltimore Orioles
and like every adah haole
on wun mission
she came seeking da island element.
"I want to know their stories,
their voices,
their unique way of saying things."
She announced dis
as she settled in
and began to spin her web.
Research & Development
foa da academic position
at da university—
— objective: infiltrate
wit wun smile
and learn how to temporarily
co-exist wit da natives
as you attempt to become
wun integral part
of da creative community.
Start da "innovative" journal
and mix everyting
into wun happy cornucopia
of varied potpourri.
Yeah, right,
da window dressing and tinsel
looks very homely
but da visitor
is only visiting—
I looked out
at da Waianae mountain range
and saw wun flock of local hawks
in attack mode
diving and spiraling in da air
shredding bone and sinew in dere wake—
—in da ensuing frenzy
wun cloud of black and orange
feathers
wuz swooped up into da sky
as if it wuz riding wun tornado.
Yes, fan of da Baltimore Orioles
da talons are always dere—
It's wun lesson well learned
by da new hawks
dat have to constantly fly
undah da imposing wing span
of da great bald eagle.
Joe Balaz is a well known writer of Hawaiian Islands Pidgin (Hawai'i Creole English). He also writes in American-English and creates visual concrete poetry and composes music-poetry. Some of his Pidgin works such as "Junior Like Be Wun Rastah," "Pidlit 101," "Da History of Pigeon," and "Da Mainland to Me," are viewed and studied as classics in the genre. Balaz also recorded Electric Laulau (1998), an innovative and groundbreaking cd of his Pidgin literature set to music. In 2005 Balaz moved to northeast Ohio and presently lives in the Greater Cleveland area.
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