trout

White boy meets Te Whiro

premature lambs speckle the soil
around our bedroom’s foundations
       my wife ties her skirt
       tighter, turns away
afraid for our firstborn: I lie
in the ditch of our wedding vows
       beating my meat now
Te Whiro is coming for me
Te Whiro is coming for me
       this love is for real
       this love is mortal

15.9 –15.10.1992, Cathedral Square, Christchurch.
Te Whiro: Maori god of evil, personified darkness, Death