Past the moon. Past humanity's space junk.
Past Mars’ planet, the Kuiper belt,
Jupiter with its storm burned eye,
Past all the outer planets
- past planetoids - Eris, Pluto, Haumea -
past (the hypothetical) Oort cloud.
Past the limits of solar wind,
but not Humanity’s imagination.
When we have slipped beyond this
system, what is carried for our new lives?
Food, technology. Plants and minerals.
The seeds of human civilizations.
I carry a palmful of pa‘akai, evaporated
on Kaua‘i and red with the memory
of so distant ‘āina.
A reminder that Indigenous peoples
have sung the stories of distant stars.
We are always present throughout the solar system.
Present throughout the galaxy.
I carry presence, and culture on my skin
(now also beyond the solar system)
- Tatau - on my arms
are lines from the Kumulipo.
Placed here so as to alway carry
genealogy, remind others - or those we may meet -
there are other ways of knowing besides science.
Wrapped along my right arm,
spiraled up and out :
O kane ia, o ka wahine kela
O kane hanau i ke auau po-'ele'ele
O ka wahine hanau i ke auau po-haha
Ho'ohaha ke kai, ho'ohaha ka uka
Ho'ohaha ka wai, ho'ohaha ka mauna
Ho'ohaha ka po-niuauae'ae'a
Ulu ka Haha na lau eiwa
Ulu nioniolo ka lau pahiwa
O ho'oulu i ka lau palaiali'i
Hanau o Po-'ele'ele ke kane
Noho ia e Pohaha he wahine
Hanau ka pua a ka Haha
Hanau ka Haha*
Tell me, as we go beyond/past all
we thought we knew,
have you ever tasted life’s
essentials on a flake of salt?
Have you ever chanted the universe?
* From The Kumulipo: A Hawaiian Creation Chant. An English translation of the quoted text (third era, first verse) by Queen Lili‘uokalani, Hawai‘i's last reigning monarch, may be found here:
D. Keali’i MacKenzie (he/him) is the author of the chapbook From Hunger to Prayer (Silver Needle Press). A queer poet of Kanaka Maoli, European, and Chinese descent; his work appears in, or is forthcoming from: Home (Is)lands: New Art & Writing from Guahan & Hawaiʻi, homology lit, FOOTNOTES, and The Operating System Experimental Speculative Poetics. A Pushcart Prize nominee, he is a past member of the Worcester Poetry Slam team. He received an MA in Pacific Islands Studies, and an MLISc, from the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa. He can be found on twitter @DMKealii.