by Mauatua Fa’ara-Reynolds (she/they)
Heat cages flesh,
I am a thawing carcass
stumbling along the city’s sweaty
tarmac skin.
Roads end dead,
I am lost among rotten paths,
stacked and laid on top
one another.
The eyes are here.
There are eyes here.
Sand sinks mobility,
I am thrust onto ancient shores,
And blinded by imported
Grimaces that steadily besiege.
Water licks limbs,
and on this beach,
one hundred years melt from my body —
the dusky maiden returns.
Les yeux sont ici.
Il y a des yeux ici.
It is here that you feast
Upon our black pearl girls
It is here that we lay helplessly,
Parce qu’il n’y a pas des yeux ici.
Especially when you fuck us, missionary.
Liberté, égalité, fraternité
For all the bleached beach bikini babes.