He Piko he Taniwha, he Piko he Taniwha - Karlo Mila

He Piko he Taniwha, he Piko he Taniwha
- Karlo Mila

at every bend of the river
a body
at every corner a corpse

this river is damned
with women
I have left behind

I see my memory
in their bloated faces

eyes blank and full of story
waiting for me
to re-member them

lips cold closed chanting
whispering for me
to rec-call them

dream fish floating from their mouths
star fish flying from their eyes
singing through the energy of the current
I hear them ghosting on the surface of the water
liquid memory

at every bend
a body
at every corner
a corpse

there lie the girls
I have loved before
there lie the girls
I have left behind

wild hair straying like tentacles
clinging to drifting wood

onwards I swim with quick thich thighs
still shedding selves like seal skins in the silver of the
moonlight

there is one who sings downstream
the loneliest song of regret
she treaded water for the longest time
waiting for me
to recall her

when the river levels rise
she sits upright
and opens here eyes wide
waiting for that kiss of life to come

but I have left her behind
drowning her memory
beneath the surface

there are
so many women scattered
in the wake of my choices

at every bend a body
at every corner a corpse




Karlo Mila is of Tongan, Palangi and Samoan descent. She was born in Rotorua, grew up in Palmerston North and now lives and works in Auckland. She has had poetry published in Whetu Moana, Best New Zealand Poems 2003, Short Fuse: The Global Anthology of Fusion Poetry, the Listener and Coffee and Coconuts. Karlo performs live poetry regularly.
http://nixie1.livejournal.com/tag/karlo%20mila