Hawaii

Jets rise from the outbound runway,

Accelerating, reaching for a smoother sky

As they tip gently to starboard,

Bidding Mahalo to the disappearing blue green waters.

Overpopulated hills and beaches reverberate

To the offense of planes and cars

Attempting to lay claim to the once 

Unspoiled soft air and flower festooned island.

Rousseau would surely have been embittered

At man’s carnage of a land that

Needed not the invasion of 20th century progress,

And the cacophony and concrete that marked it's claim.

Yet we come and find a place,

Imperfect, yet still transcendent.

We are far too many, and too rapacious

To save what remains, but might just recognize what once was.

If so, something of value 

Has been added to our life's journey

And, while it may diminish over time,

Surely we remain richer for the insight.