For Our Hawai ‘ i
Bobby H. K. Richards
We hung him
and received our reward of tea
after being subjugated
to a guilty verdict by the jury.Â
At least the heads recognized
that we were just trying to protect
our paradise in the Pacific Sea,
our Hawai‘i.
For the buyer we found him,
bound his arms and legs,
packaged his head in burlap
and delivered him.Â
He tried to scream and yell
so we placed between his lips a sock
and he squirmed like a dog
going to hell.
I swear that God was with us
for even He couldn’t understand
the devilish tongue that came from this foreigner’s lips.
So how can you say that we were wrong?
We brought that man here and gave him a dream—
to cut sugar cane in this heaven of a place.
But he wanted more,
that fool challenged us,
opening a store.
We let him go to see him fail
but they went to him.
His business succeeded so much so that he opened another shop.Â
We couldn’t have that man
taking our money like this.
How else were we to live in luxury?Â
On October 27, 1889
we tied the hangman’s knot with justice in mind.
We flung the two inch rope over the telephone pole
and pulled it down so that he lifted ’til his breath was no more.
We left his body there
for the godless to see
that justice was to be served
mercilessly.
Photo: Memorial dedicated to Katsu Goto in Honoka‘a by Bobby H.K. Richards