Aria by Jessica Hinerangi

Author:Jessica Hinerangi
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Auckland University Press
Published: 2023-09-15T00:00:00+00:00

Goddess of death

My thighs are strong like kauri trunks

I could quite easily crush your beautiful neck

between them

as you try to climb inside searching for

immortality.

I like to tease you because I know you can

sense it is close

that portal of your own origin that centre of

endless

indiscriminate energy it is burning at my core

even though I cannot control what is within me

I know it is there.

When Māui died, all the taonga he stole or

was gifted

returned to the wāhine of the world and here

in us you will find them.

Our jaw bone hooks you in like an island and forms

passages for the mouth to mould around

enchanting kōrero and lilting love language,

the final surviving unbreakable rope laced with the hair of Hina

sprouted out from the skin of our scalps long ago,

and we wear it proudly in plaits, with heru and feathers,

in messy buns or pixie cuts,

and you know the children of Mahuika never died,

we fished them out of the water and clicked them

onto our own nails,

wore them until they dried,

bursting into flames once more,

a reminder to you –

beware our touch,

we are ancient at birth,

when we fuck our eyes glow

white and memory moves our

bodies in the unholy rhythms that

they wanted us to forget,

a promise dipped in caution,

if you continue to love me,

treat me right,

I might just grant you

the moon.

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