麻豆社

The Hurricane Love Songs

1.
I now chance the night to write a song
that wanders in the personality of mist
koromiko slipping out of unwanted clothes
drops of water shaped like lit candles
If I was
If I was to tell you
If I was to tell you that I was born without
a bird pecking at my teeth the kowhai
at the precious windows, a field of yellow
light and jocular roads ending at my eyes
would you believe me?
Then it is settled
I came to these shores barely able to reach the belly
of my mother.
My feet already clad in soil with
a history of the koho and the smell of tyres,
a futureless beach at the end of the journey
a junction full of ships and floral dresses
as I am carried off the vessel
to stand on a platform rained on in the night.
I have since studied my hands
one side is white as the moon
a soft illusion curled at the lips
the other side is dark as your eyes
Never mind I keep telling myself
I have grown up here in a certain uncomfortable space
my shadow casts a question on the secret air
If I should drop everything I had found at the door

From Whetu Moana, ed Wendt, Whaitiri, Sullivan, Auckland University Press, 2003