LEONTINE HANDEL

The Pride of Kauai

2011-04-29T03:46:00.000-07:00

Earth was not your true realm
I see you now
Alighting from your liquid heiau
Head bowed
The Pride of Kauai

Oil black shone your armour
As you manned the guns of Oahu
Between the volcano and the sea
Pele spat you forth
The Pride of Kauai

Orchids on the water
The drumming of the koa
A lone conch shell moans
We slide upon your wake
Oh Pride of Kauai

King of Kiwai'i

2010-11-01T10:40:00.000-07:00

Tonight I am a king
Of Kiwai'i
And I eat the heart of my enemy
And the sea is my sanctuary

Tonight I am a king
Of Kiwai'i
And I cruise the meridian
And I am carved from obsidian

Tonight I am a king
Of Kiwai'i
And seabirds are my amakua
And Seapoint is my ahapua'a

They Walk On Water

2010-04-10T07:32:00.001-07:00

Northern Majesty

2009-10-19T05:31:00.000-07:00

Last night I dreamt I went among
The blue streaked phantoms of the waves
Whose black Antartic waters
Were fast becoming graves;
I saw the tail that sent Poseidon
Leaping up beyond the night
Past the stars and past the moon
Becoming a constellation lost from sight;

I saw the blood caked ship of fools
Which pursued a silent path
To this northern Majesty inexpressible
In word or photograph,
Whose eye has seen all things before
Man ever sought to take the shore,
This ship of flesh which controls the tides
And rises like a stone from the ocean's floor

[First published in "Extended Wings 3", Swan Press, Dublin 1995]

The Ghost of Elvis

2009-06-22T11:04:00.000-07:00

Last night I dreamed I heard
The Ghost of Elvis sing
The last, lost lullaby
Of the Memphis Gospel King

He sang, God walks with me
Down the darkened street
His sunshine is my stage light
His rain is my back beat

And me, I'm just a pilgrim
Down on Lafayette
I know where I am going
I just ain't got there yet

Yes, I'm the Ghost of Elvis
And I've rocked at Heaven's door
Since I returned to Jesus
I ain't lonesome anymore

A Surfer's Prayer (for Malik Joyeux)

2007-08-27T16:48:00.000-07:00

Now that I am beyond peril
Commend me not on land
In soil, to dirt
Fuel for worms
And all the earth's corruption

Lay me down
In the bosom of the stormy sea
In the grip of Poseidon's frenzy

Let your tears swell the tide
That bear all craft aloft
To fair winds and the quay side
At the pleasure of Mac Lír

Let my coffin fall past
The watchful eye of sharks
To join those who fell before
Sailors, pirates, mermaids
And all who ride upon the spray

Fire the Bofors gun
Once for my life
Once for my love
Once for my lord
Once for my soul
Lost on the cresting wave

[First published in Tonnta Magazine, Issue No. 5, Winter 2009]

PEOPLE ARE WAVES

2007-08-27T09:33:00.000-07:00

Living people are like ocean waves;

Silent, invisible, intangible

Unless clothed in flesh or water.

Faith teaches us that the soul is immortal

Physics teaches us that energy cannot be created nor destroyed,

It can only be changed from one form to another

People die, swells fade and yet they roll on to eternity