A long life
Well-lived
The center
Of attention
And rightly so
Possessing a beauty
Difficult to describe-
Like a grandmother
Whose arms were able
To reach out in
All directions
At the same time
You pulled us in
Shared your stories
And listened to ours-
You were taken
In an instant
No one will sit
In the wisdom
Of your shade again-
And my heart is broken

I am saddened by the news of wildfires in Maui, Hawaii. The one-hundred-fifty-year-old Banyan tree I sat under a few weeks ago is gone. Along with it, most of the town to which it was the center.

A quaint main street lined with local businesses and restaurants. The constant sound of ocean waves. People, nature, structures-a way of life-all taken in a terrifying instant. I couldn’t allow the day to end without expressing my love and heartache for this beautiful place.

Lahain Banyan Court Park-Destroyed by wildfires August 9, 2023.