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Pua Haua‘iliki

Kaleikipio‘ema Brown

Brown tells us that his mele was composed after a recent hula competition, the results of which he found somewhat comical. "I had Victoria Kamāmalu’s ‘Pua Hau ‘o Maleka’ and ‘Aita ‘Oe e Parau’ in my ear when I took pen to paper."

‘Auhea wale ana ‘oe
E ka pua haua‘iliki
Ua hauahalakī ka mana‘o
I ke alanui ‘o Kalopi
Lopi-a-hepa ‘ia ‘o Hanakahi
I ka pākela hula kipikō
Ua kō mai nei ke kela lole
Ua kō mai nei ka wili oho
Pohō wale nō ‘o Vikolia
I ka noenoe o Pilipoi
Po‘e hopo ‘ole kō Ka‘iwa
I ka nui o ‘Auwae O‘o
‘O‘ō moa a‘ela ‘o Lā‘ie
Eia a‘e nō ‘o Alāla
Ha‘ina mai ka puana
No Kamākālei he inoa.

Where are you
O ice flower of the bitter cold?
The mind has wandered off course
Down Trophy Road
Hanakahi has been rope-a-doped
By an excess of tiptoe-dancing
The dress maker has succeeded
The hairdresser has succeeded
Victoria is troubled
By the fogginess of Pilipoi
Ka‘iwa’s people are not bothered
By the size of Unfriendly Chin
Lā‘ie crows like a rooster
Here comes Awakening
This ends my chant
In praise of Kamākālei.

 

© Kaleikipio‘ema Brown 2006