after Kathleen Lynch
with lines repeating from Haunani-Kay Trask
1. Brindle your throat.
2. Metabolize the twitching
eyes, tongue, feet.
3. Hold your stomach
with both hands while
his teeth dissolve and recite:
you will be undarkened
you will be undarkened.
This acid, medicine.
4. Always rub your piko.
When the settler breaks down
stick your finger in your mouth
to beckon flowers.
5. Kaulana nā pua.
From Ask the Brindled (Milkweed Editions, 2022) by No‘u Revilla. Copyright © 2022 by No‘u Revilla. Used with the permission of the author.