Mele

<p><em style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>Mele</em><span style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(0 0 0 1)> by Kalehua Kim embodies the meaning of the word mele - a Hawaiian song or chant traditionally used to preserve history through the oral tradition. Winner of the Trio House Press Editor's Choice Prize Kim's debut collection</span><span style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(0 0 0 1)> evokes modes of language and culture that shape the contours of memory and expose the fault lines of family and self as well as the grace and generosity of healing acknowledgement and commemoration. </span><span style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>The poems reflect on what we inherit and how who we become is intertwined with who our parents were and are and the pain of facing that reality: One day your voice will become mineKa leo o maua/Though I am not prepared for your end...  With this mele Kim honors the memory of a lost mother as well as the struggles of a daughter as she becomes a wife and mother herself while honoring her roots and forging a new path.</span></p>