kino

your black inscriptions cite a kino lau,

whose feathered wingspan, nighttime eyes & pun-

ishing beak comprise mo‘okū‘auhau.

w/my oiled hands, I greet her, w/hun-

gering for mo‘opuna. “mai,” she says,

reciting from your thigh. “mai, mai e ‘ai.”

I have traveled from Maui a lizard, mes-

merized by dreams of ‘ōhi‘a & ai-

kāne, lizard filled w/smoke. arrived, I eat

transforming in the forest of your grand-

mother’s memory: from lizard: woman

dreaming: licking tattoo: permission land:

skin. traveling the night of your kino

to sleep your thighs, ho‘āo, ho‘āo, and wake.