RACHEL TROW
Moko Kauae I ~ Te Pō
My moko kauae visits me
Only in dreaming
When she’s passing through town
On her way up North
When she comes to see me,
We sit in the garden
In the long grass, a cellulose fence
Guarding our kingdom of kōrero
She whispers sweet nothings to me
In a reo only the two of us share
We sip kawakawa tea
Steam rising like smoke signals
I inch closer and closer
As she recalls her travels,
If there were cracks in her lips
I would be able to taste them
When gasps escape my naked mouth
Our voices punctuate the air
Like sheet music
And as they kiss consume
My kauae can’t stay long though
Her adventures beyond our palace walls
Await her,
And I’d be rude to keep her
She’ll return soon, I know it
But perpetually,
She leaves me urging for more
‘Tis twenty year til then