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Kindle Notes & Highlights
She reads that in the high days of the ali‘i, wāhine ka wā haumia, or bleeding women, were regarded with a reverence otherwise reserved for royalty.
and tonight she smiles, says thank you to her tūtū and to all Lopaka’s brothers and their children and wives, people she’s known for years, who’ve watched her unravel into adulthood with little more than grunts of acknowledgment and the occasional fat joke.
It’s a strange thing, to be in love during a national crisis.
He’s certainly a disappointing child, but he’s mine, his eyes are mine, I love him dearly.
Just another white couple cultivating roots on Hawaiian land.
I feel the bruises bloom along my neck without witnessing the injury firsthand, which is the best way I can describe being a mother.
No girl could be afforded such a pleasure without the accompanying shame with which to share it. Isn’t that why it’s called a guilty pleasure?
“I’m sorry she treats you like that,” I said slowly. Barely a teenager and still I knew enough about boys and the skeletal fragility of their pride.
Don’t bother with accessibility. Even when you write white, the white readers won’t make sense of it. Bother with specificity. Be exacting and specific. Write in ‘ōlelo Hawai‘i when you can. Write dialogue in pidgin, because dialect is important. Most importantly, honor the kapu. Do not write about what you cannot write about.
Night Marchers, the embodied spirits of long-dead Hawaiian warriors who mercilessly kill any mortals in their path.
The seat belt sign clicks off, and passengers scramble to their feet, vying to open the overhead compartments first and fastest. She has never understood what compels people to dash off planes like that.
RT
If I were to call my son right now, here is what I would say: I miss you, and I think about your happiness but not every day, and I would love to meet your child, really I would love to see you both. We could catch up, and your child could see the corpse flower. I know you didn’t force me to choose, just as I know some mornings I wake up certain I made the wrong choice. I’m sorry. I know you study birds, I know everything there is to know about you.
