David Keali‘i is a Queer Kanaka Maoli poet who was born and raised in Springfield, Massachusetts. In 2009 he represented the city of Worcester along with four other poets at the National Poetry Slam. His poems have appeared in or are forthcoming from: ‘Ōiwi: A Native Hawaiian Journal, Full of Crow and Mythium: The Journal of Contemporary Literature and Cultural Voices.
Mahealani’s hands
know quilting easy as freedom.
Push the needle,
tug the thread.
Push.
Tug.
from her mother and grandmother
who had learned it from
missionary women who came
to Hawai‘i from New England.
Those pious ladies had no idea
Hawaiian women were already
masters of fabric.
Mahealani’s grandmother would make
tapa, Hawaiian bark cloth, by pounding
the pulp of the mulberry tree
into sheets used for clothing and bedding.
Like so many other Hawaiian women
she knew the skill of dye and prints, adding her own personal touch.
Mahealani continues this tradition by
quilting for those rare nights
when the island’s temperature dips below 70 degrees.
She makes designs based on local flora,
bright colours, ocean views or patriotism.
Her masterpiece is always on her bed.
This quilt shows deftness of skill and
attention to the different changes around her.
Her masterpiece is a quilt whose borders
consist of four Hawaiian flags.
In the mast corner, the Union Jack.
Then, eight stripes of white, red and blue
for each of the major islands.
When you look down at Mahealani’s bed
you see the flags flying upside down
the international signal for a country in distress.
On the white centre field of the quilt
the crest of her Nation has been embroidered with diligence, absolute care.
Enclosing in on the crest are four white stars,
symbol of a foreign nation,
their edges sharpened by manifest destiny.
At night Mahealani snuggles herself beneath her quilt.
She looks down at the flag opposite her head, sees it flying as it should:
Unbound, not dominated by unwelcome alliances.
During the day Mahealani’s hands
know quilting and resistance easy as freedom.
Push the needle,
tug the thread.
Push.
Tug.