POMĪAHIAS & HIS LOVER’S GREAT ACCOMPLISHMENT

for Sam Duckor-Jones

Pomīahias is in the garage molding
little men into being
fingers slick with clay
drying gradual into dust
the light casts shadows to move
the roller door is open to let the air in

he admires all the fishing rods
his lover has hung from the wall

Maui has caught some big ones
in his day

he sits his tiny figure up on the shelf
with the others
he can see it on their faces
(scrunched fingernail detailing)
they all want something
he isn’t sure he’s allowed to give

could he be as brave to draw a world
over the horizon against its will?

©essa may ranapiri

essa may ranapiri (takatāpui; they/them/ theirs) is a poet from Kirikiriroa. They have words in Mayhem, Poetry NZ, Brief, Starling, THEM and POETRY Magazine, and their debut collection RANSACK will be published by Victoria University Press in 2019.