This poem originally appeared in The Anthem (2014-2015), Georgetown University’s student journal. I lived in Hawaii from 1997-2000.
We joked about the world ending
for the creatures of the sea
as the palms trembled above our heads
and we tossed spinners on the waves
watched the sparks tear into the black
as the men drank and the women danced
at the party on the far side of the world
in the breezy, equatorial heat
where I sat directly across
from that girl in the red dress
who mentioned my name in passing
though we never spoke at all
in that house beside the reef
where the sun fell into the sea
before the island sent me away
before the rain of fire and steel
before the wars called my father
before we asked who we were
we were there on that beach, once
joking about the end of the world
A Road to Emmaeus 