Hello Friday!

                                          Hawaiian Islands
                                        By August Wilhelm Wern

                                    O beauteous Isles in midway sea,

                                    Thou ocean gems of priceless pearls,
                                    Where tepid rain and gentle breeze
                                    Around thy vales and mountains curl,
                                    And noontime sun of brightest gold
                                    With brilliant light doth thee enfold.

                                    The ocean gently meets thy strand
                                    Through tangled moss and coral reefs,
                                    And forms 'round thee a wedlock band
                                    That doth to thee in friendship cleave
                                    With placid billows, rolling in
                                    Like children's play in rollicking.

                                    All, all is calm as if at night
                                    Life slumbered in its sweetest dream,
                                    Or feared that old Kilauea might
                                    Spit fire at the slightest scream;
                                    And dusky natives are content
                                    To live in just such element.

                                   Aloha! wherewith they will greet
                                   Their own or others on the way,
                                   That in their rambling they may meet,
                                   But would prefer the live-long day
                                   To slumber 'neath a banyan tree,
                                   Or eat their poi near Waikiki.
 

                                   Sweet pleasure through the woods to rove,
                                   And listen to the mynah bird,
                                   Or through the stately coconut grove,
                                   Where urchins' chattering is heard,
                                   Or pass through valley's vistas Eden
                                   With fruits and flowers o'er laden.

                                   When twilight's silvery moon appear,
                                   And twinkling stars with brightness gleam,
                                   Naught but the murmuring waves we hear.
                                  'Tis then that near me angels seem
                                   That smile on me, lull me to sleep
                                   Within the cradle near the deep.

                                                                   Happy Weekend!
                                                          Aloha