Manoa Falls

I see the pure, untouched, clear
water cascading down the face
of the cool, misty waterfall.  I look up at
the luscious, green forest around me and hear
the native honeycreeper’s call.  I feel
a light drizzle of rain on my skin, sit on
a rock and watch the little opai,
miniature freshwater shrimp,
feed in the stream.  Off to the side
of the stream, tranquil water remains unbroken
until I hear the annoying buzz of mosquitoes,
toss a rock and shatter the surface,
water swirling with mud.  Downstream,
a leptospirosis warning sign
looms like a stone-faced sentinel.

by Quinn Cowan
7th grade, ‘Iolani School