a’a’a is from ha’apulī’imokenu’u. her brother is i’i’i and he has a
twin called u’u’u. when a’a’a is three her parents – e’e’e and o’o’o – move to
kipimule’ēlopohahanapolu. a’a’a is not happy in kipimule’ēlopohahanapolu. she
is sad.
confused, lost, outside of happiness, she travels alone to mount li’āmihuno’okepupu
to consult the oracle in the crater in the lava to see what she should do. but
when she gets to mount li’āmihuno’okepupu and to the oracle in the crater in
the lava the lava is cold and the crater filled and the oracle silent. if i was lost before i am truly lost now,
a’a’a says to herself. and she maintains a vigil for 40 days and 40 nights,
eating only ash, drinking only vog, waiting for the lava to flow and the crater
to be a crater and the oracle to speak.
and – behold! – after 40 days and 40 nights, a’a’a, as close to death
as someone in that situation can be, the earth opens to expose the fire in its
heart and the voices speak from before the time of a’a’a and i’i’i and u’u’u
and, yes, from before the time of e’e’e and o’o’o, and – yes upon yes! – from even
before the time of ha’apulī’imokenu’u and kipimule’ēlopohahanapolu and –
believe it readers – if possible (and it is possible) before the time of mount
li’āmihuno’okepupu, and they say in their voices that are not voices and yet
speak: a’a’a, climb on the back of the
fire of the heart and ride with us to pihapukomenalī’i or what is sometimes
called nana’aholikenomupo or rarely but
hardly never mahū’olapi’ekano or in the ancient tongues wanders without a name.
and why should i go with you to mahū’olapi’ekano
or nana’aholikenomupo or pihapukomenalī’i when i have been living in kipimule’ēlopohahanapolu
with i’i’i and u’u’u and e’e’e and o’o’o but longing for ha’apulī’imokenu’u? says
a’a’a.
but the fire in the earth does not answer and a’a’a climbs on the back
of the fire of the heart and goes with the voices to the ancient tongues
without a name.
