This poem was written by Robert J. Maxie, Jr, who has a You-Tube channel that features his spoken poems. (Do check out his poetry site on Wattpad for more of his work.) Robert independently published a book of poetry as well, BLEEDING INK, which is available on Amazon.com. He says, “The back story of this poem isn’t as much in the past as it is what I’m living. I oftentimes recently have found myself in situations where I feel hopeless…
The Kumulipo is a Hawaiian creation chant. It is probably one of the few recorded accounts about the earliest Hawaiian understandings regarding the origins and life-development in this world. It is also a finely wrought ancient chant that links one family of ali’i, chiefs, to the Creative and to the pantheon of gods shared by other Polynesians. It is about how our world was formed and the inter-connectedness of that world.
“Mash-ups” is a new word for me, but an old art-strategy. You mix or fuse disparate elements or types of media that don’t normally go together and somehow synthesize new meaning out of the mix. This is what you do when you play with what artists call “mixed media”.
