SILVER FINGERS

About the Book

When I was a junior in high school in 1967, I wrote my first poem. It was in protest of the war in Vietnam. When my father read it, he was terrified; he burned the poem in fear that I would get in trouble with the government. I was confused and amazed. Can poetry really be that powerful? Yes, it can! It has the power to protest, agree, nurture, wound, heal, comfort, agitate, and illuminate.

My life has taken me from the shadows of despair to glimpses of enlightenment. Sometimes I have stepped across the veil between this reality and the next. Many people and spirits have touched my life in amazing ways.

The beautiful cadence of Shakespearean Sonnets, the graceful simplicity of Haikus and freer poetic forms accommodate the voice I need for true expression. This book is a tapestry of poetry woven with photography to illuminate each poem. Born in Honolulu, Hawai‘i in 1950, I moved with my family from Honolulu to Ohio to Los Angeles. We returned to Hawai‘i when I was a freshman in high school. My husband, Michael, and I settled on Maui shortly after we were married in 1973 to raise a family in the simplicity of the country.

Being a storyteller on Maui for over 20 years, it has been a joy to take children on a journey of the imagination. I have taught poetry classes to children. Helping them find themselves through poetry encourages them to seek their dreams.

My concern for the human condition and my hope for the future we leave our children are my greatest motives in writing. Poetry is the voice of my soul. I lay it open for all to see.

About the Author