Poetry and science blend in opus

Where do we come from?

This is the question that Hawaii’s first poet laureate, Kealoha Wong, has been posing in his poetry for years and one that he will attempt to answer in the world premiere of his upcoming performance, "The Story of Everything," at Mamiya Theatre on Sunday.

The 90-minute multimedia production, which combines the Kumulipo, the Hawaiian creation chant, with evolution theory, will be the culmination of a lifetime’s work for the nuclear physics major and poet.

"This is my magnum opus," said Wong, who goes by Kealoha. "This is what I have been building up to through all the work that I’ve done."

The performance is a creation story in epic poem format, Kealoha said, and will touch on everything from the big bang theory to disco, physics and biology. Along with poetry, there will be visual art projections by Native Hawaiian artist Solomon Enos, music by Taimane Gardner and the Quadraphonix, guest dancers and an oli (chant) by Kaui Kanaka’ole.

"I spent the first half of my life studying science, and the next phase of my life was poetry and storytelling," said Kealoha, who said he is in his 30s but declined to give his exact age. "Then came the spark to do ‘The Story of Everything.’ Once I found that idea, it just opened up so many different channels. I was able to combine everything I’ve been studying my entire life into a piece that has meaning, and what I believe is the chance to really impact people, deeply and profoundly."

The performance tells of a triangle love story between the earth, the moon and the sun, as well as how the earth gives birth to a single-cell organism and, ultimately, the evolution of humans. In all, there are six sections, each with its own message. Its development was supported by a fellowship from the Native Arts and Cultures Foundation.

"Each section has its own metaphors and music that explain what’s going on with the science, and there’s also a message that’s specific to that story," he said. "Section six talks about the future, and that goes heavily into global climate change, which is the imperative issue, scientifically, that we need to address."

Other questions are: "Where do we go from here? What’s next?"

Kealoha, an environmentalist, hopes to present the science in his performance as approachable and tangible, rather than something to be intimidated by.

"I want people to embrace (science) and love it and dance with it," he said. "I also want to draw parallels and play with the way that culture — not only pop culture but indigenous culture — also dances with science, and the lessons we can learn from all of this."

Kealoha has become an acclaimed poet and storyteller, appointed the first official Hawaii Poet Laureate by former Gov. Neil Abercrombie in May 2012, a title he still holds. He’s performed at the White House as well as for the patients at Kalaupapa.

Before he became a poet, he says, he was a closet nerd.

The Punahou graduate, who also enjoyed soccer, hula and surfing, scored a perfect 800 on his math SAT college admission exam and went on to graduate from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1999 with a bachelor’s in nuclear physics.

In 2000, he was working as a management consultant in San Francisco when he first discovered slam poetry.

"I’m in San Francisco, doing the whole suit and tie thing and I’m like, slowly getting the life sucked out of me," he said. "You know, it was the same thing every day. Wake up, go to work for 10 to 12 hours, come home, eat dinner, go to sleep, do the same thing the next day."

While the work was interesting, he did not feel that he was contributing to the world in a meaningful way.

He saw a newspaper listing for a slam poetry event a few blocks away from his apartment and decided to go. As he sat in the audience, listening, it was as if a creative floodgate had opened.

"So I’m sitting there and my spine is getting all tingly," he said. "The back of my head started heating up. I was like, ‘Oh my God, where has this art form been my entire life?’"

His last vivid memory of enjoying poetry was in high school, when writer Lois-Ann Yamanaka visited, and he heard a poet "speak my voice."

After the slam poetry session, Kealoha went home and spent the entire night writing poetry. He has never stopped.

Eventually, Kealoha quit his job as a consultant, moved back home to Honolulu and took up poetry.

He’s made a full-time living as a poet since 2002, starting with open mics at a kava bar known as Hale Noa. He went on to found HawaiiSlam and First Thursdays, a monthly poetry slam for local poets, visual artists and DJs. The events are now held at Fresh Cafe in Kakaako.

"The opportunity to change someone’s life or at least to inspire, influence, whatever — I don’t take it lightly," he said, "because I realize it’s an honor to be able to speak in front of people and have the potential to get them to think about things."

One evening after a performance 10 years ago, he recalled, a college student came up to him and said she had been thinking of committing suicide, but that his poems had given her hope and changed her mind.

"It still sits with me," he said. "That’s the responsibility I carry whenever I go onto a stage or into a classroom: the kuleana to have as much of a meaningful impact on the people sitting in the audience as I possibly can."