Kealakekua Bay

 They came in white on the rolling tide 

With the iron and wood and the turning sky 

And the shore stood still as the sails drew near 

Like they’d seen that shape in another year  

There were gifts laid down and a path made wide 

And a place prepared at the water’s side 

But the wind had turned and the season changed 

And the shape of things was not the same 

Oh Kealakekua the tide runs deep 

Where the living stand and the old ones keep 

If a man walks in and he don’t return 

Was it lost… or something learned?  

He gave his name to the rising sea 

Gave his breath so the rest could be 

Some say gone where the waves all end 

Some say he’ll walk those shores again  

There was fire in words that were never known 

And a step too far from the place he’d grown 

And the circle closed like it had before 

But no man there saw the same shore  

Hands reached out and the line was crossed

 Not in rage but in something lost 

And the moment broke like a shifting sand 

Between the sea and the waiting land 

Oh Kealakekua the tide runs deep 

Where the living stand and the old ones keep 

If a man walks in and he don’t return 

Was it lost… or something learned?  

He gave his name to the rising sea 

Gave his breath so the rest could be 

Some say gone where the waves all end 

Some say he’ll walk those shores again  

They say the story was written one way 

And the truth was carried another day 

And the man who fell in the island sun 

May not be lost… but undone 

Oh Kealakekua the tide runs deep 

Where the past don’t rest and the future keeps 

If a man lays down so the rest may live Is that death… or a life to give?  

He gave his name to the rising sea 

Gave his breath so the rest could be 

Some say lost where the stories bend 

Some say he never reached an end