Hate Letters and Love Crimes

When attempting to lull a foreign body 

let no seed be left unturned

scatter language over his skin

to nurture a forest of growth he has forgotten

let every song that resists to be put to tongue

come to life in the shake of hips

conjure wahine Hōpoe

sweet lehua nectar that insists on being remembered

As you pass through, in danger

Make wind of metaphor to brush chill against the nape of his neck

Let him not forget the sharp sting of ʻŪkiu rain 

how it would turn to sweat

make sure the seeds will stick

This is the way your voice will be given permanence

How you will be allowed safety in your crossing

That you may return to her

So sing your way through valley and cliffs edge

Bring vision to places you’ve come to in darkness

That your kaona may be memorialized in stone and premonition

insure that women will repeat the words you have written

that you will be remembered

as the wahine

who left Hōpoe’s lehua grove

but never forgot the taste

of sweet nectar on your tongue

a seed that insist to flower