ALOHA!  I want to greet you with Hawaii’s Breath of Life and share the wonder and blessings these islands keep giving to me. I have held the soil of your sacred land and woven your fragrant forest vines with my hands. I have felt the pure beauty of your ocean—as I swam in turquoise and jade waves, and gathered colorful kehelelani seashells in the rain from which your ancient leis were made. Also I am committed to helping Hawaii protect its land, its creatures, its flowers, and its loving people with their rich ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi Language.

“The Light of Hawaii Forever” was inspired from the start. I had already written a number of poems about Hawaii during the times I truly slowed down on these islands. After the fire, I watched this book continue to happen as new poetry flowed to me—from the joy of the sunrise over the Haleakalā Crater, to learning geological information and writing about the creation of Hawaii; to gaining knowledge and insight about the mysterious island of Niʻihau, where the owners took a vow to always keep the Hawaiian language and culture pure.

All my poems come from personal experiences in Hawaii. The ideas and wonders wash up to me like waves on the shore—impressing their words and thoughts into my soul as the poems deepen and take shape inside me. As you read The Light of Hawaii Forever, I hope these poems will bless you with the wonder I have known:

Meeting a curious little gecko with black obsidian eyes who delighted me on my patio.

Watching a pod of dolphins skimming the waves and a whale’s tail breaching the surface

Rising before dawn to walk the beach and noticing an older man above the highest tide

line, who looks toward you and shares, I am carving the torso of a woman.
 Learning how the Naupaka flowers tell the Hawaiian legend of two young lovers. 
 Meeting the driftwood dragon, stretching his fiery breath across the ocean’s horizon

A lover of the natural world, and a person who has had a life-long relationship with Hawaii, Linda writes from a place where personal history, geology, spirit, and the islands all meet.

The Light of Hawaii Forever is the most amazing and life-giving book of Hawaiian poetry you can own and share with others. These poems with their breath-taking photography will inspire and warm your heart – as they deeply honor Hawaii’s Aloha culture and the strength and resilience of its people.  –Elizabeth Leonard Iso