Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, HAWAII: 1938, by BIM MELGAARD


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

HAWAII: 1938, by                    
First Line: Lewd chanting on the beach; a mongrel tongue
Last Line: A threadbare theme to the hawaiian moon.
Subject(s): Hawaii


Lewd chanting on the beach; a mongrel tongue
Of English and Hawaiian words are sung
By two black Portuguese of low repute
For drunken haoles who, with much dispute,
Argue four-letter words within the song,
Call for a hula, grinning when the strong
Dark bodies of the singers writhe and sway
Across the wet white sand, nor turn away
Their eyes from witnessing how face to face
The dancers undulate in mock embrace,
Then laugh and kiss; while ukuleles croon
A threadbare theme to the Hawaiian moon.





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