Hilo Quake
Tomas Belsky

Artist, activist, and Founder of Ka Huina, a cooperative gallery in Downtown Hilo, Tomas writes with an honest, authentic voice and approaches both large-scale politics and local values with direct and personal insight.

Contact Tomas & experience more of his poetry.

In the year of nineteen and seventy-five
the house gave a shake
a rock and a roll

It was my first experience with earthquakes
save a light nudge in San Francisco years before
But this was a Pele slap
a wake-up call

The baby was in her crib
Hawiian Mama was up and with her
before I got my bearings
Everyone's tutu, Uncle Luther
was tending the garden
"Ho" he called to us,
"some shake that, come one more
maybe bigger."

We stood there
mother, child and me
in the doorway
where it's supposed to be safer.
Thinking the tremor past
I headed back to bed
the second jolt cut me off
just as Uncle Luther predicted
more powerful than the first
"Outside, fast! Come!" Luther called.
We hurried down the stairs
into the expansive backyard.
The neighbors on both siodes were already there
the Portuguese on our left
who never spoke to us
(we were referred to in their loud discourses
as the haole and the Hawaiian hippie wahine)
spoke through grey lips, perhaps to us,
"some shake, eh?"
"Oh yeah, hope the house doesn't come down,"
my Hawaiian hippie wahine responded
somewhat automatically.
That was it
No more words.

Luther was bent over the taro patch
his sickle lifting and removing
a smile curled his lips
Moani and I saw it
neither understood
we were shaken but thankful
the baby was safe and the house still stood.

In an instant Luther bolted his six foot frame upright
"come, we go upstairs,
listen to the radio
see what kind damage been done."
Upstairs we put on the radio
the local talk show
the cup of chatter was overflowing
"One light wen fall offa da wall."
"da books wen fall down offa da shelf."
"I wen fall down, twis me knee one good one!
no can walk now, no can!"

"Ho! some jack asses, them," Luther scowled
"dial up the station for me
I want make one report."
"No damage here, Luther," I said
"a few books, a dish or two-minor stuff."

"you dial em for me
I like talk with them."
Minor miracle I got through to the d.j.
"Hello, you're on the air"
Luther feigned hysteria-
"Ho, when hurt my back
the bloody house shake
throw me right off my neighbor's wife
some hurt for me,
I gettin' old already."

"das you Luta?? You Kolohe you!
Why you no talk nice,
why you make l'dat?"
Ho, Waltah, I no kid you-
I wen fal right offa da bed
an' da wahine no can hol me with the legs
das my neighbor's wife you know
an I already get 85 years, gettin old eh!

"Luta you one kolohe
mo'bettah you stay Opihikao side
mo bettah for you de'ah"

"Yeah, yeah, I go back home soon
but I jus reportin' the damage you know
good citizen kine, das me!"

"OK Luta, mahalo for callin in
you one kolohe buggah you
ahuihou."

Luther hung up the phone
had a gravel throated horse chuckle
put the tired straw hat over his silver locks
and shuffled out the door
down the steps
back to the garden.

Moani and I roared in appreciation.
the quake was over.

- Tomas Belsky

Connections:Coming soon

☆ Father's Day Thoughts
☆ Hilo Quake
☆ Pono Is