06/23/2026
FLP BOOK OF THE DAY: Dust and Diesel: Poetry of Perseverance in Rural Hawai’i by Darlene M. Javar
On SALE: https://finishinglinepress.com/product/dust-and-diesel-poetry-of-perseverance-in-rural-hawaiʻi-by-darlene-m-javar/
Dust and Diesel: Poetry of Perseverance in Rural Hawaiʻi exposes how work across decades—the labor of the hands, the heart, the soul—is a journey of human resilience amidst turbulent times; truth-deception-loyalty, diseases of the body-mind-heart. Macadamia nut fields, Hawaiian hawks, Mauna Loa—imagery and voice transport the reader to confront life’s complexities. Beds—beds of leaves, bone, salt, barren ocean; a bed pan, dump truck bed; bedroom windows. Poems seeking resolve in rugged Hawaiʻi.
Darlene M. Javar, a retired principal, relishes her rural life in Kaʻū, Hawaiʻi. She treasures time with ohana, especially her moʻopuna/grandchildren, time for poetry, time for the aina/land—Hawaiʻi and beyond. Her poems are published by Bamboo Ridge Press, Chaminade Literary Review, Hawaiʻi Pacific Review, Earth’s Daughters, Gyroscope Review and others. Her first chapbook, Patsy’s Gingerbread Fantasy, was published in 2024 by Finishing Line Press. Dust and Diesel: Poetry of Perseverance in Rural Hawaiʻi is her first full-length collection.
PRAISE:
Darlene Javar’s Dust and Diesel: Poetry of Perseverance in Rural Hawaiʻi is a compelling collection of eye-opening and provocative poems that’s hard to put down, a significant contribution to Hawaiʻi’s literature. Javar is a natural wordsmith and truthteller who illuminates her Kaʻū plantation community and family with vivid imagery, unobstructed emotions, and startling storytelling twists. She shines a bright light on her experiences that is sometimes harsh, but never blinding. And her verses about poetry’s potential to liberate will inspire others to pick up their pens and unearth their own truths. Highly recommended!
–Tom Peek, author of the nationally award-winning Hawaiʻi novels Mauna Kea and Daughters of Fire.
Dust and Diesel: Poetry of Perseverance in Rural Hawaiʻi is the second collection of Darlene M. Javar’s mele and moʻolelo drawn from Hawaiʻi’s rural landscapes and the people rooted in them. Her poems honor the words and places that shape us, showing the ways we learn to hold both sorrow and joy in the same breath. With language that feels unadorned and deeply felt she writes of work that strains the body, of grief carried across generations, and of love that persists even in its most difficult seasons. Whether she is remembering the smell of diesel and dust or tracing the ways women write themselves into visibility and survival, these poems move seamlessly between the intimate and the communal. Dust and Diesel: Poetry of Perseverance in Rural Hawaiʻi is a testament to those who labor with their hands and carry their stories in their chests. Javar’s vision remains compassionate and unafraid, gathering these poems with heart and clarity of detail, creating a collection that continues the important work of writing from and for Hawaiʻi.
–Misty-Lynn Sanico, Writer, Editor. Communications Manager, Bamboo Ridge Press. Co-Editor, Hawaiʻi Reads
Dust and Diesel: Poetry of Perseverance in Rural Hawaii, Javar’s newest collection of emotionally charged poems, offers the reader a glimpse into the poet’s personal life—so intimate, I sometimes felt like an intruder. Javar is a truly skilled word weaver!
–Jacquolyn McMurray, author of Sheltered from Love and Mele Kalikimaka: Sweet Hawaiian Romances
Darlene Javar’s poem collection spans several lifetimes, like a photo album, poem by poem, flipping through the good times and the bad; travel, family, friendship, as well as death, drug abuse and betrayal. With her simple words, she takes you right into the heart of it, leaving no feeling unexplored. Whether you’re from Hawaiʻi or never visited, Javar’s poems will transport you to a deeper understanding of life here, its beauty and its heartache.
–Kristin Noelle Wolfgang, author of Star of My Heart and 102 Reading Response Lessons
Dust and Diesel: Poetry of Perseverance in Rural Hawaii includes very thought-provoking poems highlighting the variety of stories from the many relationships of a woman’s life through marriage, family, but also with the land and cultural symbols common to Hawaiʻi. The poems include serious ups and the downs of life as over time relationships evolve or in some cases are revealed to be built on lies. Dealing with family in ill health and transitioning beyond to the realm of death. But also included are poems on a lighter note, with joy and at least one surprise ending.
–Diane B. Revell, Hawaiʻi Writers Guild former President, for 30+ years authored technical documentation and articles as an aerospace software engineer and manager. Has published poetry in the Kohala Mountain News and currently publishes poetry in Latitudes.
Dust and Diesel: Poetry of Perseverance in Rural Hawaii is Darlene Javar’s first full-length poetry book, but it is not the work of a novice. Thirty of the 65 poems in the book have been previously published over the past 27 years. Over this period, Javar has honed her poetic skills in service to experiences from her own life, including many on even the starkest of topics—poverty, mortality and death—which she confronts head-on with an unsparing clarity that makes her poems unforgettable.
–Joy Fisher, co-author of First Words, a book of feminist poetry, is the Public Relations Director of Hawaiʻi Writers Guild.
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