Tutu Mango

First posted July 21, 2015.

Tutu* Mango

She stood there

Hawaiian proud

Hawaiian strong

legs firmly rooted

in her

Rich Hawaiian A’ina

Proud, Brave, Passionate, Generous

Her fisted hands

resting on her ample hips

Her gaze

Reaching for

her

Hawaiian sky

Her proud girth

much larger

than my arms

could reach

a waist that

would be

an embarrassment to

and disdained by

a Haole woman

(Haole – that is what

the Hawaiians call

white people

Ha – the breath of God

Ole – without

Haole – people without

the breath of God)

But

She was different

She was old

She was Hawaiian

She was fat

She was forever giving

And

She stood on

A Haole woman’s

Property

(Who could be so arrogant

to presume

to own

someone

like her?)

This voluptuous tree

was not stingy

in

the Western way

she had no

racial

class

or species

bias

For years she

stood there feeding

the birds

the feral chickens

the wild pigs

and

all the humans

in

the neighborhood

with abandonment

She freely rained down

her precious

golden mangos

for all

to enjoy.

When first I passed by

I thought

They

were only

pruning her

and

doing it badly

– cuts done wrong

and

in summer

when

she was laden

with

ripe mangos

My body convulsed

when

My instant image

Was of a pregnant woman

having

arms and legs

amputated

for no reason

But

Later

as the chainsaw

whined on,

I realized

that maiming

Was not enough

and

that she,

like the Hawaiian culture,

the Hawaiian Kapuna*

and

The Hawaiian people,

was

Being annihilated

So that

Another Haole

woman

could insist

on transforming

the Bold Abundant Richness

of Hawaii

into

another

manicured

California-looking,

sterile,

controlled

world.

It is not just

the cutting down of

a tree

It is the

attempted

annihilation of

a culture

It is

quite simply

MURDER

in

Its fullest meaning

Tears roll as I

give thanks

for

Her spirit

and

pray

for forgiveness

for

us all

She was

the

oldest tree

left

in

the valley

and

very healthy!

*In Hawaiian, Tutu means grandmother.

Kapuna means elders

Anne Wilson Schaef, Ph.D.