What culture you? If you stay mo’ than one culture den go choose one of your ethnicities. Den pretend you telling your friend one insider insight into your culture and just write ’em down. For now, no worry about rhyming or format, cuz we doing what I like for call “talk story poetry.” Just write ’em like how you talk.
Your piece can be humorous, can be serious, can be both funny and serious. Try teach us about your culture in one way that only those in da know can truly know.
Get couple sample pieces down below.
Part of my Hawai‘i Poet Laureate project is for make poetry videos and one poetry anthology. If you like try do da writing prompt, den no sked, chance ’em. And if your piece come out good, go send ’em to me. Might get chosen for be made into one video or put inside one book! Send your “Sharing My Culture” poem to hpl@hihumanities.org
Please include your name, poem title, what culture you stay representing, your age, and contact information.
*Image of poetry draft above shared with permission.
SAMPLE PIECES
For examples in my poem “She Becomes da Andāgī Nazi” I started with da insight that Okinawans stay very proud of their andāgī-making abilities.
For my student Laura Liliu Eckart’s poem “Saving da Race” she wen share da insight of how government blood quantum policies led her Native Hawaiian family for put pressure on her for who she should marry.
Saving da Race
Laura Lili‘u Eckart
Shared with permission by the author.
There’s dis part of me feels dis duty
fo’ listen to my family
and marry one Hawaiian.
I know, sound crazy, but it’s true.
I tink I get ’em in my head from small kid time
when my mom and my tūtū would always tell me
’cause I’m half Hawaiian, I had
to meet and marry one “nice Hawaiian boy”
so I could have “nice Hawaiian kids”
and add to da Hawaiian race.
And den my children could all go to Kamehameha
and we could all stay in da Hawaiian Home lot
dat tūtū got in Waimanalo
fo’ even longer
’cause den my kids would be more than half
and their kids would be at least quarter,
unless of course dey married Hawaiians too,
den even more long we could stay on top tūtū’s lot.
Ho, talk about presshah.
Like, fo’ real, what can I do
fo’ bring back da Hawaiian race?
Why I cannot just marry who I like?
But you see, kinda funny
’cause dem constantly telling me
fo’ marry one Hawaiian
turned out fo’ be like one curse,
’cause every Hawaiian boy I evah went out with
had issues.
All of dem was real loving guys, really.
But soonah den latah, I notice
dey all stay too jealous, too ovah protective,
or dey like marry me. . . too right away.
But tinking about ’em now,
I guess no can blame.
Das probably ’cause their parents
presshahing dem fo’ save da race
and marry somebody like myself,
one “nice Hawaiian girl.”
ABOUT THE HAWAIʻI POET LAUREATE
Launched in 2022 as a collaboration of the State Foundation on Culture and the Arts, the Hawaiʻi State Public Library System, and the Hawaiʻi Council for the Humanities, the Hawaiʻi Poet Laureate program promotes and encourages appreciation of poetry and literary life in Hawaiʻi and the poetry community while inspiring new writers from all walks of life.