My Dog Has Flies

Poetry for Hawaii's Kids

You’re invited to a place where elephants run loose in tall, waving grass; where a kid can easily speak mongoose; where friends see you without any flaws; and where the teacher thinks you’re the best student yet.

Mynah birds sing and coqui frogs scream. A boar learns how to add two plus two, and a girl catches her very first wave.

So, lie on your back, drink in the sky, and let your imagination roam through the poetry of a child’s life in Hawai‘i.

We can float on the ocean
and gaze at the sky
(that’s surf you hear,
not cars going by),
or imagine we’re hang-gliding
off a cliff.
It’s a perfect place to ask
“What if…?”