We Must Honor

 We must honor all the lives that we have lived. They have made us who we are.

Text and image Copyright © 2021 by Donald C. Traxler aka Donald Jacobson Traxler.

Song of Myself 51 - Walt Whitman

Song of Myself 51

by Walt Whitman

The past and present wilt--I have fill'd them, emptied them,

And proceed to fill my next fold of the future.

Listener up there! what have you to confide to me?

Look in my face while I snuff the sidle of evening,

(Talk honestly, no one else hears you, and I stay only a minute

     longer.)

Do I contradict myself?

Very well then I contradict myself,

(I am large, I contain multitudes.)

I concentrate toward them that are nigh, I wait on the door-slab.

Who has done his day's work? who will soonest be through with

     his supper?

Who wishes to walk with me?

Will you speak before I am gone? will you prove already too late?

Ko te wairua te mea nui / The Spirit Is the Most Important

Ko te wairua te mea nui,

enari te puoro, te kanikani, 

me nga wahine ataahua

he pai hoki.

The Spirit is the most important,

but music, dance,

and beautiful women

are also good.

Text and image © 2021 by Donald C. Traxler aka Donald Jacobson Traxler.

Photo: He maha nga orana / There Are Many Lives

 

He maha nga orana,

reo maha.

Ko tahi fanau tanata.

There are many lives,

many languages.

One human family.

Text and image Copyright © 2021 by Donald C. Traxler aka Donald Jacobson Traxler.

Nga kakahu hou / New Clothes

 

Text and image Copyright © 2021 by Donald C. Traxler aka Donald Jacobson Traxler.

Te kii a te poeta tahanga 3 / The Naked Poet Says 3

 Ora katoa tatou i nga ora maha.

We all live many lives.

Text and image Copyright © 2021 by Donald C. Traxler aka Donald Jacobson Traxler.

Te kii a te poeta tahanga 2 / The Naked Poet Says 2

He kanikani te ora.

He tere i te timatana,

a puhoi i te mutuna.

Life is a dance.

It is fast at first,

and slow at the end.

Text and image Copyright © 2021 by Donald C. Traxler aka Donald Jacobson Traxler.