The bright, wonderful, hot burning sun,

The scent of the suncream we used,

Mixed with the spices of the ocean

 

The sound of people, waves

 

The hot sand, too fierce for my soft little feet,

A ride on a strong shoulder to the shore, with love,

To the coolness of the waters

 

There used to be a school of fish,

Always there waiting for me

We played 'Catch' , really, bet you can't believe.

 

The hotdog stand, I wish it's still there,

Nothing special in it, but one of a kind.

 

I was small,

 

I looked above to see all those tanned women and men in their bikinis and shorts.

They were different from me, my parents' faces told.

But somehow they slipped into my 'future to be',

Now a 'past that never was'.

 

I thought I was American,

My heart told me I was native Hawaiian.

 

Only to be my parents' little girl,

Pure Asians with their strange English tongue.

 

A part of me buried,

For years and years.

 

No wonder the beat of my heart's so weak,

I left so much behind.

 

I dream of a day,

A day back on the beach,

To get back, nicely brown with a lei on my neck.

 

A dream I dare,

A place I long so dearly for.

 

I know I can never get back,

The past should be laid down.

 

The years are gone,

And I'm no longer six.

 

I'm no longer the Hawaiian girl,

Who danced the Hula with grace.

 

Home, sweet Waikiki

 

I call your lovely name.

 

I know you've changed,

As I too, have.

 

But one day, if I get a chance to meet you,

Can you send me some fish?

Who knows how to play 'tag you're it'

 

So maybe I can be six again.

 

Cerine NJ 21

Hawaii, Poland and South Korea

Moithetique - Wagamama - Daydreamer

This is one in a series of excerpts from the recently published The Worlds Within TCK Anthology, now available for purchase on Amazon.com.  A portion of the book’s profits will be donated to the FIGT David C Pollock Scholarship Fund.