*Illustration by Cameron Lee and Charlie Blodnieks*

"Hehele" was first published in Quarto's Spring 2017 edition.

In the Hawaiian language, there is a word for
actions that are not done
to other things. My kumu explains it as
things that simply exist
in their own state of being.
“Doors are just
door-ing around.”

Even if a wheel
were to roll down a hill
& run someone over, it is still
a hehele word. It was just wheeling around,
its intentions true.

It helps me to think of it this way
when I ignore your messages;
perhaps you were not dark & curly-haired evil, perhaps
you were just door-ing around.
Perhaps my hurt
was simply the result of your
careening down the hill,
wheeling forward, unable to speak
or to warn.