Back to List of Winners
Iris’s Waipahu
“Let’s lose her,” I
told my best friend Elaine
We started to speed
walk from August Ahrens
To the middle of Haul
Cane Road
Trying to get rid of
my little sister Alma
My feet covered in
dirt like salt covers a pickled plum
I washed them off in
one of the many mud holes
We almost missed him,
the Yasai man
The best candy in all
of Waipahu
Pickled ginger, dried ika, fresh fish
The Bonsang walked around with his ruler
Checking if anyone
was eating
I closed my eyes as
tight as I could
As hard as a stick of
sugarcane
I felt his ruler come
slamming onto my back
Then Japanese class
was done
I was free to chase
the boys around the yard,
play marbles in the dirt
I remember at
nighttime I would run around
and watch the boys spear toads
I felt kinda bad for the toads I got over it
by Grace Kimura
8th grade, Punahou School
|
