(109)▪︎[ Currency … 2•5•2020 ]

[ Time, Is The Only Currency That We’ll Never Get Back ]
[ & Sometimes, It Is More Time That We Lack ]

[ Time Takes A Long Time To Tick By ]
[ Then You Wonder ( I’m WATCHING THE CLOCK, WHY? ) ]

[ Watching The Clock Tic, Is About As Productive As Watching
Water Boil ]
[ It Makes As Much Sense As Mixing Water & Oil ]

[ Watching The Clock Could Make You Bored ]
[ Wasting Time Is Something Most Of Us Cannot Afford ]

[ The Worst Is When You Procrastinate ]
[ You Might As Well Stand In One Place & Wait ]

~ Ka hopena ~

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

(569)▪︎[ Lost In The Shades … 7•11•2021 ]

[ I Have Found That I Get Lost In The Shades Of Color Or
     Lack There Of ]
[ Thankfully I Don’t Have To Be Asked Which One Of The Millions
     Of Colors Do I Love? ]

[ Sometimes Things Look A Little Gray ]
[ Because Being Color Blind Does Not Change During
     The Day ]

[ Night Time Does Not Get Any Better ]
[ Because Many Times In The Color Blind Book ]
[ I Cannot See The Number Or Letter ]

[ The Book Starts Out As Easy As Can Be ]
[ But Then I Could Not Get Past Page Number Three ]

[ Then Everything Went Blurry & My Eyes Got Lost ]
[ If I Ever Wanted To Correct My Vision ]
[ I Wouldn’t Do It, No Matter The Cost ]

[ I Know That My Favorite Color Right Now Is Pink ]
[ Sometimes I Get Colors Confused ]
[ Because Of The Different Colors Of Ink ]

[ Red & Black Sometimes Get Lost & Then Comes Out Looking
     A Little Green ]
[ Those Are The Times When I Get Confused By Looking @
     Something On The Small Screen ]

[ So One Day When I Was Young ]
[ I Was Showing Barbara A Picture That I Proudly Colored ]
[ But My Insensitive Bitch Of A Sister, Could Not Hold
     Her Tongue ]

[ She Laughed & Laughed Right On Cue ]
[ She Was Laughing Because I Had Colored Half Of The Sky
     Purple ]
[ & Half Of The Sky Blue ]

[ I Knew From That Point On ]
[ That My Ability To Tell The Differences Between Some
     Colors ]
[ Was Long Gone ]

[ By The Wayside ]
[ Because I Was Seriously Color Blind ]

[ So Be It, Is What I Say ]
[ I Guess There Had To Come A Day ]
[ To Be Shone That Way ]

[ I Guess A Little Healthy Sibling Teasing Has A Good Meaning
     Behind It ]
[ Even Though @ The Time ]
[ I Did Not Appreciate It, One Little Bit ]

[ I Do Like To Look Back @ That Interaction More Calmly ]
[ So I Look Back @ That Day More Fondly ]

[ @ Least There Is One Interaction That Was Remembered
     Like That ]

~ Ka hopena ~

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

(567)▪︎[ Get Out Of My House! … 7•11•2021 ]

[ Well, The Era Of My Son Living @ Home Is Coming To An End
     In A Few Days ]
[ My Emotions About It, Has Me Thinking About This In Many
     Ways ]

[ But I Know For A Fact ]
[ Because Of How He Acts ]
[ & Reacts ]

[ Around Here & With Me ]
[ This Is What Needs To Happen ]
[ From What I See ]

[ He Goes From 0 To 60 In One Second Flat ]
[ This Is Where Our Relationship Is @ ]

[ He Still Will Not Take Accountability ]
[ For His Actions ]
[ He Just Flat Out Fails @ Taking Responsibility ]
[ For His Reactions ]

[ The Time For Me To Mold ]
[ Him Into An Adult ]
[ Should Have Had Some Kind An Affect By The Time That He
     Was 18 Years Old ]

[ I Have Not Had Any Affect On Him For The Last (8) Years,
     It Seems ]
[ The Way Things Have Turned Out, Was Nowhere Near My
     Dreams ]

[ That I Had ]
[ For The Last 8+ Years He Has Not Respected Me As His
     Dad ]

[ Like That Last Word In That Sentence, I Stand Alone ]
[ Like A Single Stone ]

[ In His Life’s Path, Just Getting Kicked To The Side ]
[ Not Caring, How It Made Me Feel Inside ]

[ But His Moving Out Day, Is Coming Up ]
[ I Won’t Have Him In My House, Anymore ]
[ Stealing Everything Of Mine, Except My Lone, Coffee Cup ]

[ Now In A Couple Of Nights, He Will Be In A Different House,
     With A Different Atmosphere ]
[ I Hope In The Dead Of The Night When It’s Quiet ]
[ That He Will Think Back & See How Good He Had It Here ]

[ I Hope, That Missing Living In This House, Will Stay In The
     Forefront Of His Mind ]
[ Sometimes ]

[ & Then See How His Actions Pushed The Move Out Button
     Sooner Than Later ]
[ His Actions & Language Turned Him Into A Hater ]

[ A Hater Of Everything That I Did Or Said ]
[ With Other Men ]
[ He Would Have Gotten Smacked Really Hard Upside His
     Head ]
[ But I Chose To Be Non-Violent Instead ]

[ & Now See ]
[ Where It Got Me ]
[ Him Moving Out In (3) ]

[ More Days! ]

~ Ka hopena ~

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

(200)▪︎[ Grieving & Leaving … 3•1•2020 ]

A[ This Grieving Stuff Is For The Birds ]
[ My Thoughts Are All Consuming ]
[ But I Can’t Put All Of Them Into Words ]

[ Is There A Special Way To Grieve ]
[ Without Making Your Sanity Leave? ]

[ Like The Falling Leaf ]
[ Can It Be Brief? ]

[ Nothing About Grieving Makes Sense ]
[ It’s As Predictable As Getting A Smile ]
[ On The Face Of Vice-President Pence ]

[ Make Your Life ]
[ Like ]
[ Dice ]
[ Throw Them Against The Wall, Twice ]

[ That’s Like My Thoughts Being Rearranged ]
[ Sometimes They Seem Caged ]

[ All Pent Up In A Little Box ]
[ Who Has The Key, Goldilocks? ]

[ I Wish These Thoughts Of Mine ]
[ Would Fall Into Line ]
[ With Nine Rows Of Nine ]
[ Then They’d Take Me Dakine ]

~ Ka hopena ~

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

(247)[ The Rose … 3•9•2020 ]

[ How Can One Tell That Someone Is Trying To Get One
Over On Them? ]
[ They Act Like They Are The Beautiful Head Of The Rose ]
[ & I Am Just The Stem ]

[ But The Head Can’t Survive With The Stem Cut Off ]
[ They’d Look Around Their Surroundings & Feel Lost ]

[ So This Person Thinks They Have Everything Wrapped
Up Tight & Safe ]
[ But If Things Are Wrapped Up Too Tight ]
[ They May Chafe ]

[ Why Would They Want This Done? ]
[ Should I Get Up & Run? ]
[ I Don’t Think This Is Very Fun ]

[ Anymore ]

~ Ka hopena ~

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

(172)▪︎[ Hurting … 2•22•2020 ]

[ I Hurt So Much Right Now ]
[ I Am Supposed To Pull It Together ]
[ But I Don’t Know How ]

[ I Lost My Younger Brother Brent A Couple Of Nights
Ago ]
[ He Passed As He Slept ]
[ & Now I Don’t Know ]
[ How Long I’ve Wept ]

[ He Was The Last Member Of My Family In My Mind ]
[ Oh If I Could Only Pound On The Button That Says
( REWIND! ) ]

[ I Don’t Know How Far Back In Years I Would Go ]
[ Then I’d Hit ( PLAY ) ]
[ & Take It Really Slow ]

[ You See, We Were Separated About When He Was One &
I Was Two ]
[ I Knew I Had A Brother Out There ]
[ Somewhere ]
[ But I Had No Clue ]
[ I Grew Up Not Asking Questions ]
[ Because It Seemed Like Nobody Cared ]
[ Or Nobody Knew ]

[ It Wasn’t Until After We Were Married & My Wife Asked ]
[ ( WOULD YOU MIND IF I LOOKED FOR YOUR BROTHER? ) ]
[ I Told Her That She Could Take On That Task ]
[ But I Don’t Want To Know A Thing About Our Mother ]

[ She Tracked Down The Police Report For When My Dad
Shot Himself In The Head ]
[ Seeing This Report Was Something That I Grew Up To Dread ]

[ The Report Sent Her In The Direction That Would Make
Her Rave & Rant ]
[ Because It Said That The Names Of His Children Was Bobby,
Robin & Brant ]

[ That Made The Direction Of The Hunt Juke ]
[ Instead Of Jive ]
[ It Seems That When Our Dad Got Depressed He Never Told The Truth ]
[ About His Intentions To Die ]

[ The Information That She Found Blew My Mind To Pieces ]
[ She Even Found Names Of Possible Nephews & Nieces ]

[ So He Said He Couldn’t Help Us Know A Man With Brant For
His Name ]
[ But He Stated That He Has An Uncle ( BRENT ) Who Sounded
The Same ]

[ He Told My Wife He Had His Number & North
Carolina Was Where He
Lived ]
[ He Had His Uncle’s Number & Then Said ( THIS IS ALL I HAVE TO GIVE ) ]

[ The Next Night I Sat Down & Picked Up The Phone ]
[ I Thought ( THIS IS LIKE WALKING INTO THE UNKNOWN ) ]

[ A Man’s Voice Came On & Sounded Kind Of Gruff ]
[ Asking Him About Five Questions Was Kind Of Rough ]

[ Then He Asked Two Questions That I Thought Was Strange
But Funny ]
[ ( WHY ARE YOU CALLING ME … DO YOU NEED A KIDNEY ) ]

[ That Was The Start Of What We Had ]
[ He Talked About The Kids Who Call Him Dad ]

[ Brent Was All Of The Family That I’ve Got ]
[ Now Death Has Taken Him ]
[ & All Of That Effort Was For Naught ]

~ Ka hopena ~

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

(173)▪︎[ You’re Gone Now … 2•23•2020 ]

[ Oh Brother Brent, Brother Brent ]
[ Now Who Am I Supposed To Call To Vent? ]

[ Besides My Son & My Wife ]
[ You Were One Of The Biggest, Most Important & Loved
Parts Of My Life ]
[ Now My Heart, Feels Like It’s Been Cut Out, With A Knife ]

[ Then One Night, When You Couldn’t Hang On ]
[ One Swipe Of Death’s Hand ]
[ & You Were Gone ]

[ Now I Sit & Wonder, About Where The Time Went ]
[ Who Is Responsible For The Bad Times That Were Sent? ]
[ It Wasn’t Superman ]
[ Or Clark Kent ]

[ What Ever Happened, I’ll Never Know ]
[ Why Did You, Have To Go? ]
[ I’ll Never Know ]
[ Why Do I Feel, So Low? ]
[ This, I Know ]

[ I Feel, For Your Family Members ]
[ They Will Always Have Memories Of You, That They Will
Remember ]

[ I Know, That I Do ]
[ I Will Always Remember The Days, When We Came Out
To North Carolina ]
[ & Met You ]

[ I Had To Wait ]
[ All Of Those Years ]
[ Until 1998 ]

[ We Were Apart For Over 30 Years, But Not Of Our Doing ]
[ Growing Up Knowing You Were Out There, But We
Could Not Meet ]
[ Was Quite Grueling ]

[ I Remember What You Asked When I First Called You In N.C. ]
[ ( WHY ARE YOU CALLING ME? ) ]
[ ( DO YOU NEED A KIDNEY? ) ]

[ I Thought That I Could Not Get That Comment From No Other ]
[ I Said To You ]
[ ( WELL, I AM CALLING YOU BECAUSE I THINK YOU ARE MY
BROTHER ) ]

[ I Didn’t Know What To Expect ]
[ But You Did Not Scoff & Show Disrespect ]

[ It Is Hard To Talk About You In The Past Tense ]
[ Especially When None Of This Makes Sense ]

[ We Hardly Scratched The Surface Of Brotherhood ]

~ Ka hopena ~

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

(174)▪︎[ The Ones That We’ve Got … 2•23•2020 ]

[ Here’s To The Ones That We’ve Got ]
[ So Long To The Ones That Are Not ]

[ Friends Sometimes Come & Go ]
[ Is Family The Only Ones That We Know ]

[ Family Is Not Only Through Blood ]
[ Sometimes So Called Family Have Veins Full Of Mud ]

[ They Don’t Always Have Your Best Interests @ Heart ]
[ Sometimes That Family Doesn’t Play The Part ]

[ Feel Blessed Because Of Those You Have Around You ]
[ Be Thankful If You Have One Good Friend ]
[ Be Ecstatic If You Have Two ]

[ Build An Environment Based On Love ]
[ Make It So It Fits You Like A Tight Glove ]

[ Show As Much Appreciation As Possible ]
[ Help Making Problems Plausible ]

[ Do Unto Others As You Want Done Onto You In Your Life ]
[ Treat All With Respect ]
[ Especially Your Children & Wife ]

[ Always Cherish ]
[ Never Embarrass ]

[ Because How Would That Feel ]
[ If You Found Out That Those Around You Were Not Real ]

[ Real In The Form Of Honest, Courteous & Sincere ]
[ Surround Yourself With Ones That Want You Near ]
[ But Always Make It Clear ]
[ If They’re Not Positive & Have Your Best Interests @ Heart ]
[ They’re Out Of Here ]

~ Ka hopena ~

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

[ Are There Misunderstandings? … 12•14•2020 ]

[ Sometimes When We Need To Practice What We Preach ]
[ We Need To Learn What We Are Talking About, Before
We Attempt To Teach ]

[ Sometimes When I Show What I’ve Learned ]
[ You Should Give Me The Respect That I’ve Earned ]

[ For Me To Be Able To See The Other Side Of The Fence ]
[ & To Keep Me From Getting Tense ]
[ The Whole Idea That Is Put In Front Of Me, Must Make
Sense ]

[ As The Days Go By More & More ]
[ I Am Not Knowing If You Understand All Of My
Metaphors ]

[ During The Times That You May Be A Concrete Thinker ]
[ I Might Have On, My Creative Blinker ]

[ & You Will Be As Uncomfortable Taking On My Stress ]
[ As Much As I Would Look Bad Wearing Your Dress ]

[ We Each Have Our Own Cross To Bear ]
[ Just Like We Each Have Our Own Clothes To Wear ]
[ But Even As Much As We Try To Care ]
[ There Are So Many Stressers In Each Others Lives ]
[ That We Are Unaware ]

[ Of ]
[ That We Don’t Love ]
[ That Grip Us Like A Tight Glove ]

[ But What We Do Share ]
[ Is A Love For Each Other ]
[ That We Can’t Compare ]
[ Or That We Can’t & Don’t Find Anywhere ]

[ Else ]
[ Except From Within Ourselves ]

[ The Love & Understanding That We Do Not Give Any
Other Person In Our Life ]
[ Is The Love That We Have ]
[ & Have Gained ]
[ Because, For Almost 25 Years Now, We Have Been
Husband & Wife ]

[ @ That Very Second That I Said ( I DO! ) ]
[ I Knew ]
[ From That Point Forth ]
[ That The Only Thing That Mattered To Me For The Rest
Of My Life … Was You! ]

~ Ka hopena ~

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