LAHAINA, MAUI,

8/15/2023,

the spirit of this story,

sacred awe,

respect

for the dead

means

DNA matches,

science,

faint hopes

spreading out

across the scene

of ashes and ruins,

loss and dispair.

Search dogs,

the National Guard,

trudge through

blocks and blocks,

of former homes,

of former lives,

of ashes and ruins.

Search dogs,

spread out across

the ashes, the ruins,

searching for the lost,

Aloha.