It Was Never With Our Consent
Since the arrival of Empire in these islands
Not a day has passed without someone rising to say “ʻAʻole.”
What evil you laid down, you laid without our consent.
You, who stole land, blocked stream flow, smothered reefs,
Turned work into something for profit
Instead of something to meet human need.
Turned joy into something paid for
Instead of something shared.
You who made us a target of bombs,
Who poisoned our water with your bomb worship,
Who smashed our sacred with your bomb worship,
You who wanted to kill a culture and tear out
The tongue of a language,
You who poured concrete over graves
And asphalt over fertile abundance,
You were never welcome here.
We stood in resistance, over and again.
Our voices raised in song
Our bodies standing before your guns
Our tears flowing from deep wells of solidarity.
We know that your power is not eternal.
You have the guns.
You have the money.
We have each other.
We will dance here long after you leave.
The green mountains will hold us
Until the streams flow freely again on their way to the sea,
Until the sea once more vibrates with life,
Until life bursts forth from loʻi and garden,
Where, at dayʻs end,
we will gather, all fed, song rising, none lonely.
Oh, hearts will still break, from loved ones who leave,
But never from the death and pain inflicted by your greed machine.
We have learned, while you tried to kill us, how to
Reveal you and defeat you.
It was never with our consent,
And it will end because of our abiding love of this place.
