Pure Manaʻo

My grandmother was a woman of deep emotions but little words. Perhaps it was the broken English way she spoke, or the many hours alone in the back room with her foot-pedal Singer sewing machine, the dust threads flying into the stifling Lahaina heat like a gossamer shroud. But always, when she spoke, it was about the value of use, the shame of frivolity the decadence of   wastefulness. Study hard, wear clean panties, no waste water, paper, fabric, food, money. . . no make shame, no shame the family, no shame yourself, be a good girl, be smart,             no be like the neighbor girl, clean your ching ching good, clean your feet before you come in the house and marry Japanese. - Cathy Kanoelani Ikeda 4/5/12