Aloha, Anahola y Mahalo

Note: This is meant as a note on something I once heard about the ancient native Hawaiian race [in the time before Hawaii got colonized by the always so overly ambitious white, um, I mean British ‘explorer-types’]…
...And it goes like this: when the Whiteys was trying to figure out what them native savages were saying, so they could make an English-Hawaiian dictionary, so they could then make a Hawaiian translation of the ever Holy Bullshit and convert the native savages to the worship of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, so they could then convince the savage converts to 'sign here on this here line' and sell us your trees and your waters and your gold and your jewels and by the way—you got any hard workers in your family?  Cuz if I'm gonna build my house here there's just too many trees around and I don’t like the way they look at me standing there all naked and proud of it and they are just gonna have to come down in the name of Jesus—hell, just sell us the whole damn piece of property or better yet how 'bout we just buy the whole damn isle and if you don’t understand why this is good for you to agree to [are they understanding this? you sure you is translating word for word cuz then they should understand that I’m right] otherwise we is just gonna have to take it from you—I mean reclaim it—in the precious name of the Universal Savior—cuz we all have sinned and need to be saved—I mean just look at the way those trees are looking at me!  Why are we here?  Oh right, they got good stock in Hawaii, and good water, too—its all still fresh…but them trees, now they have just got to go—in the name of Christ Jesus, please.
...And so the Whiteys got to work on making that magic book that could take something strange sounding like those grunts and growls that they call language in Hawaii [must be too much sun down there or maybe its something in the water] and tell you how you say that thing in the words of the educated English...
...And then the Whiteys heard the word 'Aloha', a word that is commonly spoken both when meeting someone and again upon departure, and translated the word as 'hello' and ‘goodbye'.  But according to Wikipedia, the first real study of the Hawaiian language described Aloha as ''a word expressing different feelings; love, affection, gratitude, kindness, pity, compassion, grief...that is commonly used as a simple greeting...but has a deeper cultural and spiritual significance to native Hawaiians'' and literally ''means ‘to be in the presence of the divinity’ or in the presence of (Alo) the ‘divine breath of life’ (Ha).”  That means the minds of them half-naked savages went far deeper than any of them Whiteys wanted to believe.  Wikipedia [which everybody knows only strives to enlighten the mind] goes on to state that the ''Hawaiians believe the concept to be unique, with no English equivalent'' and ''the modern use as a greeting diminishes the term’s original meaning and reduces it to the more superficial expression of good wishes.  Anthropologist Francis Newton states that ‘Aloha is a complex and profound sentiment.  Such emotions defy definition’.''  But the Whiteys—in their translation of the word—decided 'hi' and ‘bye-bye' as equivalents were good enough.
...And then the Whiteys heard the word 'Mahalo', a term that was also commonly spoken but equally defiant to proper British-English translation.  To again quote the most reliable source currently in common circulation, the Wikipedia, ‘Mahalo’ means “thanks, gratitude, admiration, praise, esteem, regards, or respects.”  I would translate this word into native ghetto-speak, another unique foreign language which also struggles to find an appropriate translation into proper modern English, as the 'greeting' [I guess] of sorts—or better yet the 'acknowledgement' exchanged between hood rats trapped in harsh circumstances who have refused to 'sell out' and have chosen instead to fight—come 'hell or high water’—to preserve their particular, albeit peculiar, to outsiders—sense of self dignity.  In the Hood, as you may have heard, this sentiment is summed up in the word ‘Respect.'  Like “Yo, Shaq, Respect, homie. Word up.”
…But the Whiteys decided 'Mahalo' simply means 'thank you'.   And so it came to be understood.  And now the Hawaiian natives who are employed to keep the trees from reclaiming the golf courses say 'Mahalo' to the rich Americans who vacation there.  But to quote el Wiki, ''some sources support that the meanings ‘thanks’ and ‘gratitude’ were appended to the word following contact with Westerners.  While the word ‘Mahalo’ is found in Lorrin Andrews' 1865 dictionary, the English-Hawaiian section does not provide any Hawaiian word intended to mean gratitude or thanks.  Also, early visitors noted that the Hawaiians were generous and grateful people, but had no word to express gratitude or to say ‘thank you’.”  Holy shit.  Cuz they keep demanding I say thank you for nothing every damn day.  So today I woke up and wrote this:

…and then the attitude

that’s supposed to communicate your gratitude

got replaced by a hollow Mahalo.

…and now that we are standing in the shade

in the wake of the sorrow of another sad tomorrow

it’s a bitter pill to swallow when they still make you say

‘Mahalo’.

…from the beautiful mind of Rebeka Lyn.