court the muse who brings the music to prose

and I miss my novel.

It must be about time to get back into it.

I am preparing ceremonies of wedding and reaffirmation, ceremonies of love and devotion, for use in Hawaii.

It is traditional in Hawaiian weddings to begin with the Oli Aloha chant. Of all the parts of this endeavor of offering a dreamy ethereal wedding destination, complete with ceremony, actually performing the Oli Aloha chant is the most daunting.

Since the chant is in the Hawaiian language, a translation into English is appropriate, so I went in search of that. Hawaiian like many languages does not directly translate into English. There is much of the language I still have to learn even to give a good explanation here. Suffice it to say that I found three translations of the Oli Aloha, all different, and one oft quoted partial translations of one line, that different too.

What this signaled to me is that I can make my own translation.
And here it is, in its current incarnation, as it were.

The beauty of this is that the words however they are set down describe a setting that is Pulelehua, the real wedding location that is awaiting construction of the pavilion and hale.

Finally, the reason this unorthodox translation is coming in under this goal is that if ever anything I have done has been inspired by the muse, it has to be this:

Here, where the air we breathe is perfumed with the fragrance of hala and lehua,

In this lehua sanctuary blessed by the mists,

The beauty that surrounds us connects us to our innermost yearnings,

And in the presence of our most beloved we know we are exactly where we have most longed to be,

as one we are here,

where love walks and we walk with love.

With an abundance of love, welcome, and aloha

There are some people on 43Things who write so from the heart, with such openness and candor that it humbles me to read their entries and comments.

Beautiful writing comes from deep honesty. It comes from reaching into the heart and bringing out the music of the soul.

This is not about fancy words, although there is beauty is words. It is not about thoughts never before expressed.

It is just about expressing in an unvarnished way my own truth.

It is the music of the night, drifting from the part of the mind that has no words, surrender, translation…