HUMUHUMUNUKUNUKUAPUA’A

Barely fits the front of my hat,

By the time I get to the PUA‘A,

I’ve forgotten where HUMU’s at.

HUMUHUMUNUKUNUKUAPUA’A

I try to read some at a time,

But NUKU’s get in the freakin’ way,

‘N there’s too many HUMU’s to rhyme.  

I wear my hat wherever I ride,

It’s what I learned from my Pa,

So where I go, folks look crosseyed

At HUMUHUMUNUKUNUKUAPUA’A

Before I can say Aloha y’all

And show off the Hawaiian I got,

I get to NUKUPUA’A ‘n all,

And my native lingo’s shot.

HUMUHUMUNUKUNUKUAPUA’A

Barely fits the front of my hat,

By the time I get to the PUA‘A,

Where the Hell’s the HUMU at?

But HUMUHUMUNUKUNUKUAPUA’A

Is a much better thing on my hat

Than LAUWILIWILINUKUNUKU OI OI --

A word even longer than that !

HUMUHUMUNUKUNUKUAPUA’A

The Triggerfish (The fish with a snout shaped like a pig)

LAUWILIWILINUKUNUKU OI OI

The Butterflyfish (The fish shaped like the wiliwili leaf)

© 2011 R. Leland Waldrip