(598)▪︎[ My Grateful Journal … 7•19•2021 ]

[ My Gratitude Journal ]
[ That Should Not Be Thrown In A Urinal ]

[ I Am Grateful To Have A Loving Wife Of Over 25 Years ]
[ I Am Grateful That My Wife Helps Me Face My Fears ]

[ I Am Grateful To Have A Healthy 18 Year Old Son ]
[ I Am Grateful To Own A House That Protects Me From
     The Sleet, Snow, Rain & Too Much Sun ]

[ I Am Grateful To Have A King Sized Sleigh Bed ]
[ I Am Grateful That This Is Where I Can Lay My Head ]

[ In The Morning When I Rise ]
[ I Am Grateful My Wife Has Pillows On The Bed Where I
     Can Hide Any Surprise ]

[ I Am Grateful To Own A Car Without The Burden Of Car
     Payments ]
[ I Am Grateful That Buying Our Car Was A Mutual Agreement ]

[ I Am Grateful That We Have An Umbrella Insurance Policy
     That Puts My Mind @ Ease ]
[ I Am Grateful That Our Insurance Agent Explained It & I Said ( YES
     PLEASE! ) ]

[ I Am Grateful For The Handful Of Friends That Stand To My
     Right ]
[ They Are Always On My Mind Even Though They Are Out Of
     My Immediate Sight ]

[ I Am Very Grateful About Finding My Dog ]
[ 10 Years Ago ]
[ I Have Written A Few Stories About Her & Posted Them On My
     Blog ]

[ I Am Grateful That We Have The Ability To Put Food On
     Our Table For Our Meals ]
[ I Am Grateful That @ This Moment No One In Our House
     Steals ]

[ I Am Grateful That Whomever It Was, No Longer Lives In Our
     House ]
[ I Am Grateful That It No Longer Puts A Strain On Me
     & My Spouse ]

[ I Am Grateful That I Always Have Liquid To Drink ]
[ I Am Grateful That I Can Write Stories That Let Others
     Think ]

[ I Am Grateful That I Have Good Air To Breathe ]
[ I Am Grateful That I Am Honest With Others ]
[ Because I Do Not Keep Anything Up My Sleeve ]

[ I Am Grateful With How I Have Been Thinking ]
[ I Am Grateful That It Has Been Over 25 Years Since I
     Have Taken A Drink ]
[ I Am Grateful That I Have Never Succumbed To A Life Of
     Despair & Binge Drinking ]

[ I Am Grateful That I Found The Drive To Finish My
     College Education @ A Late Age ]
[ I Am So Grateful That I Had The Privilege To Walk Across
     That Stage ]

[ I Am Grateful About How Much Support I Got From My
     Wife To Help Me Stay Strong ]
[ & Eventually Show Don ]
[ That He Was 100% Wrong ]

[ I Am So Grateful That Don Gave Me The Boot To Live On
     My Own ]
[ Then I Was Able To Show Him That I Did Not Need Him ]
[ By When I Made It All Alone ]

[ I Am Grateful To See That My Son Is Thriving ]
[ Pretty Soon, Someone Will Teach Him The In’s & Out’s
     About Driving ]

[ I Am Grateful That Task Will Not Fall On My Shoulders, Now ]
[ I Will Let Someone Else Show Him How ]

[ I Am Very Grateful That I Have The Best Caregiver Whose
     Last Name Is Marler ]
[ She Gets Her Great Work Effort From Her Father ]

[ I Am Very Grateful About A Good Friend Named Hakeem ]
[ When It Comes To A Good Honest Friend ]
[ She Is A Dream ]

[ I Am Grateful When I Want Travel I Am Able To Fly ]
[ I Am Grateful That I Try To Be A Humble Guy ]

[ I Am Grateful For … ]
[ The Good Friends Who Walk Through Our Door ]

[ I Am Grateful To The Readers That Stop By ]

~ Ka hopena ~

[ Mahalo iā ‘oe ]
[ A hui hou mākou ]
[ Aloha ] ‎
‎
[ Na ]
[ Lopaka DeVoe ]

(597)▪︎[ The Road For Children … 7•19•2021 ]

[ For Our Children, The Road To Happiness & Success is
     Usually Paved By Our Example ]
[ Not By Ideas & Questions That Can Be Trampled ]

[ No Child Deserves Someone Rude ]
[ & That Excludes ]

[ Children Should Be Included In All Play That Is Child
     Like ]
[ By Playing Games & Being Taught How To Ride A Bike ]

[ Children Should Be Nurtured & Taught ]
[ Not Be Given Away ]
[ Or Bought ]

[ They Should Have Wonder In Their Eyes ]
[ & @ Such A Young Age ]
[ They Should Never Be Expected To Be Worldly & Wise ]

[ Children Need To Play, Play & Play ]
[ & Never To Be Worried About If They Won’t Be Able To
     Stay ]
[ Or Have The Threat Of Being Pushed Away ]

[ Everyday They Should Be Told To Their Face ]
[ That They Never Have To Worry About Having A Living
     Place ]

[ Kids In Foster Care Have Dreams ]
[ That Creates Screams ]

[ They Are Never Secure About Where They Will Be Living
     From One Day To The Next ]
[ A Message Concerning Another Move ]
[ Could Come Anyday Through A Message Or A Text ]

[ Children Should Feel Secure In Their Surroundings &
     In Those That Are In Their Lives ]
[ The Adults Should Always Be Their Guiding Light ]

~ Ka hopena ~

[ Mahalo iā ‘oe ]
[ A hui hou mākou ]
[ Aloha ] ‎
‎
[ Na ]
[ Lopaka DeVoe ]

(596)▪︎[ What Are Your Pro-Nouns? … 7•19•2021 ]

[ Now A Days When You Go To Town ]
[ You Really Have To Watch What You Say ]
[ When Someone Asks ( WHAT ARE YOUR PRO-NOUNS? ) ]

[ What Are My Pro-Nouns I Am Asked ]
[ By Someone Wearing A Mask ]

[ I Look @ Them & Say ( DO YOU HAVE THE NERVE … ) ]
[ ( TO ASK ME ABOUT MY USE OF VERBS? ) ]

[ I Say That I Am Way In The Dark ]
[ Trying To Figure Out Whether You Are A Marcia Or A
     Mark ]

[ When Someone That Used To Be Someone’s Brother ]
[ Now Marks That They Are Now An ( OTHER ) ]

[ Confuses Me To No End ]
[ It Is None Of My Business About Who Shares Your Bed ]

[ But When Others Really Try To Make It My Business I
     Say ( PLEASE, DON’t ) ]
[ Because If You Think That I Will Be Curious ]
[ I Have To Strongly Say ( UMM, I BET I WON’t ) ]

[ I Am Not That Curious About Who You Lay Down With
     @ Night ]
[ Just Like It Is None Of Your Business Whom I Am With
     When I Turn Off The Light )

[ I Do Not Object To Who Or How Often ]
[ The Only Thing That Will Concern Me Is If It Involves
     Young Children ]

[ That Is When & Where The Line Should Be Drawn ]
[ No Child Deserves To Be Played With Like Some Chess
     Pawn ]

[ They Legally Cannot Give Consent ]
[ They Never Should Be Given Away By One Of Their Parents ]

[ Or Be Used By One ]
[ When Or If I Hear That, Then I’m Done ]

[ Never Would Want To Hear Another Word ]
[ Then I Would Have To Let The Police Know What I Had
     Just Heard ]

[ So Let’s Not Go There ]
[ That Is One Thing That I Do Not Want You To Share ]

~ Ka hopena ~

[ Mahalo iā ‘oe ]
[ A hui hou mākou ]
[ Aloha ] ‎
‎
[ Na ]
[ Lopaka DeVoe ]

(599)▪︎[ What In Life … 7•20•2021 ]

[ You Have Spent Your Whole Life Trying To Figure Out
What You Want Out Of Life ]
[ Everyday, You Have Looked For That Light ]
[ To Be A Guide ]

[ Many People Cannot Accept, Or See ]
[ The Hypocrisy ]

[ Of Other People’s Lives, Or Even Their Own ]
[ Because, In The Dead Of The Night, When They Wake ]
[ They Then See, That They Are In Fact, All Alone ]

[ It Is Critical ]
[ To See ]
[ How Hypocritical ]
[ Others Can Be ]

[ Most People Can Never See Themselves In Others ]
[ When They Make Mistakes ]
[ They Think That They Can Hide Amongst Their Sisters &
Brothers ]

[ When They See That Others Might Have Some Success ]
[ They Forget About Their Own Mess ]
[ & Spend To Excess ]

[ On Credit Cards With High Interest Rates ]
[ Hoping Some Day ]
[ That Their Debts Magically Dissipates ]

[ Hoping To Be Fortuitous In Life ]
[ Hoping To Be Lucky In Love ]
[ When Or If They Find Their Husband Or Wife ]

[ Then Hoping That They Hit Every Green Light On The
Road ]
[ Going To & From Their Happy Abode ]

[ Then Finding That Such Luck Does Not Even Exist ]
[ No Matter How Much They Insist ]

[ That It Does, Or Doesn’t ]
[ Because If There Was ]
[ They Will Quickly Find, That There Wasn’t ]

[ People Have A Hard Time Looking Within ]
[ They Never Want To Look In The Mirror & See Their Own
Sin ]

[ When They Peer Deeply In Their Own Eyes ]
[ Do They See Their Lies? ]

[ That They Have Told To Themselves? ]
[ Or Told Someone Else? ]

[ I Bet They Won’t ]
[ I Bet They Don’t ]

[ So They Quickly Put The Handheld Mirror Down ]
[ Then They Look Around ]

[ Silence Is What They Hear ]
[ Because Nobody Is Near ]

[ So … No Harm, No Foul ]

~ Ka hopena ~

[ Mahalo iā ‘oe ]
[ A hui hou mākou ]
[ Aloha ] ‎
‎
[ Na ]
[ Lopaka DeVoe ]

(595)▪︎[ I Hope They Think … 7•18•2021 ]

[ It Is Really Tough Not Sharing My High’s & Low’s ]
[ Of My Blog ]
[ With People That I Personally Know ]

[ A Few Stories Have Been Read, Liked & Commented On By Two
People That Are Physically In My Life ]
[ One Is A Good Friend ]
[ The Other Is My Wife ]

[ Besides A Few, Most Of My Likes ]
[ Comes From Others That Write ]

[ I Am Overjoyed By That Point ]
[ When Other Writers Take The Time ]
[ To Read A Rhyme ]
[ & I Hope That I Don’t Disappoint ]

[ I Cannot Appeal To Everyone, That Stops By ]
[ I Do Write Stories Where I Ask ( WHY? ) ]

[ Some Say That Asking ( WHY? ) Is A Conversation Stopper ]
[ I Don’t Want It To Be An Idea Dropper ]

[ In A Blink ]
[ I Want To Ask Others To Think ]
[ Not Drive The Reader To Drink ]

~ Ka hopena ~

[ Mahalo iā ‘oe ]
[ A hui hou mākou ]
[ Aloha ] ‎
‎
[ Na ]
[ Lopaka DeVoe ]

(594)▪︎[ Anything Lately? … 7•18•2021 ]

[ How Do You Go Through Life & Not Add To The Chaos
Of It All? ]
[ Then When You Come To That Wall ]

[ You Turn Around & Lean On It ]
[ Maybe Even Pull Up A Chair & Sit ]

[ Relax, For A Minute Or Two ]
[ It Is Not What You Did That Matters ]
[ It Is What You Will Currently Do ]

[ It Is A ( WHAT HAVE YOU DONE FOR ME LATELY ) ]
[ Kind Of Society ]

[ Because What You Did ]
[ Is Behind You, Under Your Lid ]

[ If You Want Get Known ]
[ People Have Got To Be Shown ]

[ What Worth Is ]
[ On A Day-To-Day Basis ]

[ Whatever Has Been Done Last ]
[ Has Fast ]
[ Been Placed In The Past ]

~ Ka hopena ~

[ Mahalo iā ‘oe ]
[ A hui hou mākou ]
[ Aloha ] ‎
‎
[ Na ]
[ Lopaka DeVoe ]

(593)▪︎[ Worth The Effort … 7•18•2021 ]

[ Some Say, That Life Chooses You ]
[ It Is Because Of Who You Are ]
[ Not Because Of What You Do ]

[ Is It Because Of Your Gene Pool? ]
[ Or Because You Make Others Feel Good ]
[ & Not Look Like A Fool ]

[ It Is Quite To The Contrary, Says He ]
[ It Is How Things Actually Are ]
[ & How Things Can Be ]

[ If Your Eyes Are Always Buried In A Book ]
[ How Does That Look? ]

[ Maybe That Is What Life Is All About ]
[ It Does Not Mean How Loud You Can Get ]
[ It Could Mean Coming To The Point Of Time When You Lose
All Doubt ]

[ & As You Grow Older ]
[ It Could Be By The Eye Of The Beholder ]

[ It Is ALL Common Sense ]
[ That Keep Others From Riding The Fence ]

[ It Costs Dollars & Cents ]
[ To Fix Those Scratches & Dents ]

[ Fender ]
[ Benders ]

[ Are Not Just That ]
[ Just Like Skinny People Are A Meal Away From Being Fat ]

[ A Roll Of Cookies Here Or There ]
[ Sometimes No Longer Having A Penchant To Even Share ]

[ Just Eating One After Another ]
[ Not Even Saving One For Their Mother ]

[ Sometimes What Is In Front Of Your Eyes ]
[ Have Been Misconceptions & Lies ]

[ Not One Single Person Telling You The Truth ]
[ Not Being Able To Go To The Dentist To Pull Your Bad Tooth ]

[ Sometimes You Can See ]
[ How Some People Can Be ]
[ Like A Deep Cavity ]

[ Eating Away @ The Eanamel Of The Base ]
[ Lying To People In Front Of Their Face ]

[ When The Base Is Gone ]
[ People Move On ]

[ When It Is Right ]
[ It Is Worth The Effort ]
[ That Is Put Into The Fight ]

~ Ka hopena ~

[ Mahalo iā ‘oe ]
[ A hui hou mākou ]
[ Aloha ] ‎
‎
[ Na ]
[ Lopaka DeVoe ]

(127)▪︎[ What Happened? … 2•9•2020 ]

[ What Is This Downside, That You Speak Of? ]
[ Are They Looking In The Wrong Places ]
[ For Their True Love? ]

[ Things Where They Live Cannot Be All That Bad ]
[ Maybe They Should Just Concentrate On Being
The Best Dad ]

[ They Can Be ]
[ Are They Really Talking Like That To Me? ]

[ Because They Try To Put Their Best Foot Forward Every Minute
Of The Day ]
[ But @ Times Things Just Don’t Swing Their Way ]

[ Sometimes They Feel That They Have Paid Their Dues ]
[ But Whenever They Watch T.V. ]
[ It Seems That They Never SawThe Clues ]

[ Then They Look @ Life Through Their Tired Eyes ]
[ & See That They Don’t Really Want To Be One Of Those
Ordinary Guys ]

[ They See That They Stress Themselves To Reach To Have Those
American Dreams ]
[ But In The Middle Of The Night They Are Startled Awake ]
[ By Their Own Screams ]

[ The Morning Comes & They Feel Like They Never Got Any
Sleep ]
[ In The Afternoons When They Need To Pay The Bills ]
[ They Do Nothing But Weep ]

[ They Open Their Checkbooks Wondering What Is There ]
[ Then All They Do Is Look @ The Negative Number ]
[ & Silently Stare ]

[ It’s The First Week Of The Month & They Wonder Where It
Went ]
[ They Look @ Their Empty Wallet ]
[ & Can’t Remember Where It All Was Spent ]

[ Are They Leaning Towards Giving An Excuse ]
[ Or Do They Have A Good Reason ]
[ So They Won’t Be Accused ]

[ Of Spending It All ]
[ Doing On-Line Betting ]
[ & Drinking Alcohol ]

[ Do They Get On Their Knees Went They Get Home ]
[ Well Some Things Will Never Be Known ]
[ Like Where Their Monthly Paycheck Was Blown ]

[ The Next First Of The The Month ]
[ Can’t Come Soon Enough ]

[ Then The Nightmare Starts All Over Again ]

~ Ka hopena ~

[ Mahalo iā ‘oe ]
[ A hui hou mākou ]
[ Aloha ] ‎
‎
[ Na ]
[ Lopaka DeVoe ]

(125)▪︎[ 2 O’Clock In The A.M. … 2•9•2020 ]

[ It’s Two O’clock In The Morning & All Is Not Well ]
[ When I Walked In The Room ]
[ But I Couldn’t Quite Figure Out The Smell ]
[ It Was Like Pavlov’s Dog ]
[ Ringing The Bell ]

[ Is The Smell Supposed To Bother Me? ]
[ Or Make Me Wonder ]
[ What Could This Be? ]

[ Where Is It Coming From? ]
[ Are These Questions Dumb? ]
[ If They Are Not ]
[ Why Are They Making Me Numb? ]

[ I Try To Think About Which Direction I Was Supposed To Go ]
[ How Will I Know? ]

[ When Will The Signs Tell Me That I’m Headed In The Right Direction? ]
[ Would I Have To Make Any Corrections ]
[ To Make The Right Connections? ]

[ But Is This Going To Be The Norm? ]
[ Of Having The Feeling Like I’m Headed Into A Category (4) Storm? ]

[ The Winds From The Tornado Are Lifting Everything Up Off Of The
Ground ]
[ & Tossing Them All Around ]
[ Will Everything Be Eventually Found? ]

[ It Seems To Be Insightful ]
[ When You’re Doubtful ]
[ But That’s Saying A Mouthful ]
[ When You Let Someone Close To You ]
[ Know That They’re Untruthful ]

[ How Does One Rebound From Such A Disaster? ]
[ What Needs To Be Done After? ]

[ Can Some Of It Wait? ]
[ Until Tomorrow Morning After Eight? ]

[ You Quickly Find Out That It Can’t ]

~ Ka hopena ~

[ Mahalo iā ‘oe ]
[ A hui hou mākou ]
[ Aloha ] ‎
‎
[ Na ]
[ Lopaka DeVoe ]

(105)▪︎[ Giving Up … 2•4•2020 ]

[ Right Now Some People Feel Like They’re In The Fight Of
Their Life ]
[ It’s Not Because Of A Stranger With A Knife ]

[ It’s From Fighting The Urge To Not Walk Towards The Bright ]
[ Shining Light ]

[ But It’s So Pretty ]
[ & The Warmth From The Beam ]
[ Feels Like A Soft Kitty ]

[ But What’s On The Other Side? ]
[ The Only Ones That Know ]
[ Have Gone Off & Died ]

[ Why Does Someone Walk Towards The Light When It’s Not
Their Time? ]
[ What If They’re In Their Prime? ]

[ & They Want To Just Call It Quits ]
[ Because @ This Point In Time, They Just Don’t Give A Shit ]

[ Where Did It All Go Wrong? ]
[ When Did They Stop Being Strong? ]

[ Maybe The Length ]
[ Of An Illness ]
[ Has Zapped Their Strength ]
[ & Willingness ]

[ To Go On ]
[ Their Drive Is Gone ]

[ But What About Those Left Behind? ]
[ Will Their Memories Help Remind? ]
[ Them ]
[ Of The Times They Went Out & Dined ]

[ A Picture Whispers A Thousand Words ]
[ When They Spoke ]
[ Were They Heard? ]

[ When They Were Young They Were Alert & Wired ]
[ Now That They Are Older ]
[ They Wake In The Morning Still Tired ]

[ Goodbye, Unyunghikaseyo, Adiōs, Au revoir, Sayōnara Is
What They Wrote ]
[ In Their Final Note ]

~ Ka hopena ~

[ Mahalo iā ‘oe ]
[ A hui hou mākou ]
[ Aloha ] ‎
‎
[ Na ]
[ Lopaka DeVoe ]