Poems from "I no like cook"

Abstract

“We All Bus,” “Liliʻuokalani,” and “Kani ka pila” are poems from the collection I no like cook, written as part of a spring 2024 Creative Pidgin Writing Workshop (ENG 317). This series explores the everyday truths and lived experiences of the people of Hawaiʻi. They are the voices who continue to carry the memories of old Hawaiʻi into the present. Through language, imagery, and local cadence, these poems honor the ways communities adapt, resist, and celebrate amid the effects of colonization and modernization.

I no like cook references a familiar local phrase that speaks to more than domestic labor. It reflects a deeper commentary on cultural shifts and the transformation of traditions. Once grounded in sustenance and communal care, the islands now face pressures to conform to contemporary, often Western, ways of living. Yet, through storytelling, music, and collective memory, the poems affirm a movement from mere survival to thriving.

Together, these works serve as an ode to Hawaiʻi’s past and present: the struggles of its people, the joy that sustains them, and the enduring truth that the heart of Hawaiʻi beats strongest in its stories.