In the House of the Sun

the long version

Hawai‘i continues to conjure images in the extreme, from the paradisally spectacular to the commercial and crass. Based on the author’s visits there in the early 1990s, these poems tap into the islands’ dazzling, often contradictory tapestry of sights, sounds and savours: from the past simmering beneath its volatile soil, to the urbanization and greed that threaten to eradicate its Tahitian cultural roots. There is the tragic paradox of Kaho‘olawe (“the Forbidden Isle”), and the devastation of 1992’s Hurricane Iniki. Pele and the gods of creation are also explored, including a trek through Haleakala Crater, which inspired the title of this book. A brief glossary of Hawaiian terminology is included.