for my wife, nalani, and our 6-month-old daughter, kaikainali’i, hawai’i 2014 [we] take kaikainali’i to the pediatrician— outbreak of enterovirus D68 in new york— the nurse recites the vaccines and expiration dates— outbreak of chikungunya in the caribbean florida, tokelau— nalani holds kaikainali’i and sings a mele [we] learned during hapai class at kokua kalihi […]

The Three Bridges on Ohio River between East Liverpool and Steubenville, Ohio   Don’t worry, I promise, it won’t last long. They take one leg, then the other, and hold you on the table until their job is done. I wouldn’t lie, it hurts, the way they pry you open with their needles and crooks, […]

4.   To know yourself better practice forgetting. Infinite circles fit in a line. When I see the phone I want to call my mother. I take a class to learn about an actor’s tool, the neutral mask. My favorite mirror though is Ahab Caught on the deck in the eyes of Starbuck, The moment […]

These are the nights we burn couches. We carry them each like a paisley casket up from a basement lit year-round by strung-up Christmas lights and joints, out from a living room floored with carpet damp and soft as cheese; we curl our fingers under the frame, dodge florets of mold, lift the armrest nose […]