for Elizabeth, Sinead, Michelle, & Hinemoana
Hinemoana reads poetry in the first
light of the morning where ducks study the
revolutionary texts of their shadows stretching
through the water like arteries
the lake is as deep as the Empire State building is tall
as dark as the Big Apple is
bright
Hinemoana drags men
into the still water
her hands shake in the traditional way
leaving each body to be weighed down by bullion
soon the eels begin to feast black wires bulging
Hinemoana buys an air fryer to enjoy her catch
she was always confused by the phrase
friend not food
when obviously they’re foes?
before going out Hinemoana makes a face mask
out of the ashes of coral
bits of her start to come away
morsels tugging free of
sinew sliding off bone
now fully liquid she is ready to leave
her house beneath the sea gone fishing
for more bourgeoisie
Copyright © 2022 by essa may ranapiri. Originally published in Poem-a-Day on June 1, 2022, by the Academy of American Poets.