An Offering

BY DANA R. LYONS.

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​A few days after New Year’s,
after the firecracker smoke had cleared
and the bits of red paper left behind
had washed away in the evening rain
coming makai, carried by the airstream
of Nuuanu Valley,
We left an offering
for the spirit roaming the hallway at night.

The silence of the dark, occasionally
pierced by the siren of an ambulance,
the dribbling of a basketball at Lanakila Park courts,
or the bassline of ‘Pac’s All Eyez on Me
from the Bluetooth speaker
of a late-night bike rider,
had recently been interrupted by the
thumping of footsteps
three or four in succession
down the hall toward our
bedroom door.

So we lit an incense,
placed Tahitian Tiare in a cup of water
next to green bamboo shoots purchased in
Chinatown, along with
an orange, lilikoi, and a lime picked from our yard
on a few ti leaves
and poured a small cup of tea;
we were out of sake.

We bowed deeply,
clapped two times
as we had learned at
the Shinto shrine,
silently wished blessings
to the spirit
roaming our hallway
and gratitude for
its visit.
Then bowed again.

The spirit would return,
the image of a figure
in the shadows
of the carport,
the flickering of a Witch Moth
under a shelf
of the laundry room,
a presence
lingering in the periphery,
timid in its approach,
unsure of whether to reach out
and join us on the couch
for Netflix and
evening tea.
​
On occasion,
the steps at night
in the hallway,
three or four in succession
walking toward our bedroom.

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Dana R. Lyons is a father and attorney currently residing in Liliha, Island of Oahu. You can find him on Instagram @clonethedl.