Tiki Lamp: The Hula Hut

These days my rooms have become more and more lonely, my straw covered roofs fall in disrepair. No longer do servicemen and their dates for the evening gather here in throngs for a good night out. It seems all across the country, people don't have as much room for entertainment. This long war seems to drag on and on, maybe one day my eaves and timbers will resound with the life they once did. These harsh times make me remember the glory days, the good places of my youth when times were well.......

I have not been around as long as many more distinguished buildings. I do not perform a big and important task, at least not in the way most people think. While I do not stand in such high regard by many, I am treasured by nearly all. Every morning and many late nights I look out over the waters of the pacific, as they wash up on these Hawaiian shores. See over there in the corner booth some young sailors noisily commune about sea stories. Opposite them some Marines poke fun at the drunkard "squids" who can't hold their liquor. They say what they will, but I have been watching how much business they have given the bartender and I know differently. In just a little while my inhabitants will become unruly in their cups and the military police will be called. Roused by such authorities Drunk and sober alike will muster their sea legs for a good sprint for freedom. Out near the beach the hula hut reverberates with trendy big band music and glows from polynesian lighting and small incandescent bulbs. Life is good for now, tomorrow brings it's troubles which none here, nor across the nation can fathom. Life is good for now. Waitresses in grass skirts and barkeeps in hula shirts hustle about keeping everyone well oiled with fruity, colorful drinks named "mai tai" and "singapore sling". All around I see such life and exuberance, it is my joy and my purpose to be the subject of such debauchery and such communion. My eaves provide the home for these "the good days". Life is good, for now........

As time catches up and my dream of the past ends reality comes back into focus. Over the waters that once held such a mighty fleet, the vista that held such prowess now is empty, littered only with the hulks and rusted wreckage, grim reminders of one fateful morning for so many. This war drags on and on seemingly without end. One day, hopefully the masses will return and rejuvenate my halls once more with their laughter and dancing, maybe one day.