Mythology remains.
Cracked stone burnt
to the edges, still sturdy.
This memory concludes
my time in Worcester, despite
contrary evidence, crumbled pieces:
That night was our last
together - the final time
I’d push my weight into him
or feel coarse hands along
my sides.
So I gave him a tool, an offering,
and commanded him to carve.
But before we met
I knew I needed
to pray.
At home I wiped
stone dust with a knife blade.
To my woven Gods I litince
nse, matches whispered
sulfur before sandalwood took hold.
“Remove obstacles”, I pleaded
“dispel fear”
I turned to the window.
Outside clouds churned,
promised more than rain.
When the first bolt seared
moist earth, left thunder to shat
ter the last remnant of
my calm …
My hands shookknocked o
ver soapstone images
surrendered pieces to the floor.
“This will not do,” came voice of my Gods
detonated through thunder.
“What do you give beside your voice
wrapped in scented smoke?”
My prayer wavered, then I found
the correct words to intone:
“I give you my sense of permission
- my control, consent,
sacrifice it all to be carved into
what he wants this night.
I do what he desires. I yield
nothing.”
July rain - the smell of wet copper
fell down in response.
“Yes,” they said. “This will do.”
Hours later
when he asked for edges and powder,
demanded ruin in the palm of his hand,
after he had chipped away so much,
there was no other answer
except yes. No decision to be made.
In the storm’s eye the Gods laughed
over and over.
Him, he knew nothing, just smiled.
Blissed ignorance.
D. Keali’i MacKenzie (he/him) is the author of the chapbook From Hunger to Prayer (Silver Needle Press). A queer poet of Kanaka Maoli, European, and Chinese descent; his work appears in, or is forthcoming from: Home (Is)lands: New Art & Writing from Guahan & Hawaiʻi, homology lit, FOOTNOTES, and The Operating System Experimental Speculative Poetics. A Pushcart Prize nominee, he is a past member of the Worcester Poetry Slam team. He received an MA in Pacific Islands Studies, and an MLISc, from the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa. He can be found on twitter @DMKealii.