A man is slowly lying dying on Ward Avenue, between Kapiolani Boulevard and King Street. He has been there for at least a year. I don’t know his name. I and many others walk by his decaying body while birds walk across his body as if he is already dead.

I remember first seeing him 10 or more years ago; he could sit upright, leaning back while sleeping and I remember thinking what great abs strength he must have. His home neighborhood has been that block by Blaisdell Center for many years. Now he lies under a blue tarp, rain or sun. He has come to resemble one of the mummies found high in the Andes.

People do leave offerings of fruit and food for him and for some reason no one has made him move. He is truly a forgotten man. I hope there is some group or agency that could help his last days not be spent in filth and bird droppings.

Judith Pettibone

Makiki

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