Sage Takehiro

Breakfast of choice:

oh no. u sure? ok...here goes...1st and foremost, u gotta luvanything from ken's house of pancakes; anything my mom, sisters, grandparents, or girlfriends cookthat makes me want to wake up; anykine omelette (preferablylop-chong, even though i don't know how to spell it); bagels with everything on top; cinnamon-raisin english muffins with cream cheese and guavajelly; muffins period; vienna sausage; smoke meat is always good to have with breakfast; fruityand/or coco pebbles; banana; papaya; gotta have toast;jack-in-box; egg mcmuffins (if i wake up early enough); kimchee fried rice loco moco; but hands down to the classic portuguese sausage, eggs, and rice (preferably with yoke all over it from an over easy egg, shoyu on top andtobassco but preferably chili pepper water),with bacon on the side. mmm, mmm, good. and if i'm camping, all that with a heineken. cheeeeee.

Why poetry anyway?

because god said. and then bob marley replied, "emancipate yourself from mental slavery, no one but ourselves can free our minds."

What do you do to get your creativity flowing? Special exercises, foods, a particular place?

live. life. pray.

Where do you get your material from? Family, friends, dreams, the newspaper?

everywhere. sometimes i want the material to leave me alone. but then i remember that we need each other, so i ask it to be cool with me.

Any advice for aspiring writers?

let the dreams come true. but if ur dreams don't have good intentions, don't wake um up until they do. in the meantime, write something. or eat, or hang out with the ocean, the natural environment, and/or people u care about, andhave somefun! these important things are good for you,they encourage the humble realizationthat u are morehumanthan u are writer. oh, and definitely make out withbooks,lots of them, but be selective as to which ones uallow tocreep into ur skin. similarly, be selective ofthe words that u write...i ka 'olelo no ke ola, o ka 'olelo no ka make.an awareness of thecosmos around u can prevent the words that u write from coming out wiggidy-wiggidy-wack, as long as u pay attention. i would now like to quote one of my fav. mentors, morgan blair, "the imagination is a scary place, u have to have stamina to go there." so go easy on the cheeze ballz, because u have to train hard in order to write well. you feelin' me? cool. peace.

Hina

I am in love with her

the fragrance of moonflower

wakes me from my sleep

I peek through a screen

to watch her undress

she sways her moonlight hips

slides soft across my face

I drink her breath

hungry for her mind

thirsty for her life

I suck her soft

swollen lips that drip

down the harvest nights

I crave her

she is the rhythm of kapa

pounding through roots in my heart

I make love to her beauty

swallow her light

it swims through my stomach

bleeds out of my ma‘i

I am in love with her

Hina