Pake Scheming

My grandfather, a merchant from Koong Tong, China
Could skin a cow fast....Faster than the kanaka neighbors.
The Pake storekeeper lived in Puko'o, Molokai.
On his bill collecting journeys into the valleys,
He met a mo'o wahine combing her hair by a river.
He raised at least four recorded half-breed kids,
None of whom carried his surname
These blue eyed Hawaiians sullied his sensibilities
After the passing of his wife, Hattie Edmunds
Ah Kung ordered his picture bride from China
Three pedigreed Chinese daughters,
The loveliest was Rose, with the smooth porcelain skin
Worthy of carrying the Chinese surname.
But girls...no one carried forth his precious name.
He worked hard, saving money, buying land
Scrimping, saving, smoking away his dreams of fortune.

I thought I could make a fortune
Picking plumeria and selling bunches of blossoms
to passing tourists on Lahainaluna Road.
But how much money could an eight year old make
On a street with very few tourists in a plantation town?
But the pake scheming mind is still alive.
Land investments, landlording, entrepreneur,
Designer, consultant, event planner.
It must be my Ah Kung's dreams of fortune that
continue to feed my thoughts on how to make money.
To make money, you need brains and luck.
I've got one but not the other.
Working hard, saving money, buying land
Scrimping, saving, creating dreams of fortune
Blown away like smoke

November 2009