Day 31: Happy Anniversary, Hawaii! (J)

Today marks the one-month anniversary of my landing in Honolulu.  In honor of this momentous occasion, and Matt's burly poetic offering in a previous post, I will "remix" one of my favorite poems as a child (or at least the one I was forced to memorize and still remember), into an ode to Hawai'i.  With humble apologies to both the aghast spirit of Walt Whitman, and those literary luminaries and snobs that may peruse this post, here is: "O Hawai'i! my Hawai'i!"
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"Oh Hawai'i! my Hawai'i!"
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"O Hawai'i! my Hawai'i!,
Our wondrous trip has begun.
Debit card passed every test,
The prize we sought is won.
The beach is near, wahine's I hear,
The people all exulting.
While follow eyes the ready meal,
The feasts, full and daring.
     But, O heart! heart! heart!
     O the the bleeding drops of red,
     Where on the floor,
     My will to leave lies,
     Fallen cold and dead.
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O Hawai'i! my Hawai'i!
Rise up and hear happy yells,
Rise up- for you the fun is flung,
For you the conch shell trills.
For you bouquets and wreaths,
For you the shores a-crowding,
For you we call, the swaying mass,
Our eager faces turning.
     Here Hawai'i! dear mother!
     Your arms beneath my head,
     I dream that on your shores,
     My hungry soul is loved and fed.
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My Hawai'i only smiles in answer,
Her lips rainbow hued and still,
My mother cools my fiery heart,
She soothes my lagging will.
My heart anchored safe and sound,
For it's voyage of sea and sun.
From fearful trip, the victor ship,
Comes in with object won.
     Exult, shores, and ring, O bells!
     And I, with lively tread,
     Walk the shores,
     Where my mother lies,
     My hungry soul loved and fed.