jessica Thompson carr
rāhui
I sit in glittery (probably pink) korowai,
chopping kumara cubes,
checking the gram.
Feeling ghosts, conversing with
energy through paper and pen,
because Seeing runs in the whānau.
Carving taonga with my tongue,
Mahuika’s nails are clipped to my own
fingertips, Papatūānuku’s moko
is set in my heart, trembling,
ready to surface on my chin,
my skin is sleek and powdered,
moulded by the hands of
Tāne-nui-a-Rangi.
I sleep deeply and dream
of a church-sized womb
grinning with the obsidian teeth
that Hine-nui-te-pō crushed
Māui with.
I wake inside her belly
a thousand times,
only to be spat out again
with the dawn.
Too many messengers have
fluttered on my ceiling.
Pīwakawaka, like cherubim,
chatty with advice and puzzles which
I ingest, and I karakia whilst
scrubbing swampy dishes,
desperate to lift
tapu.
We eat and move differently,
our toenails grow into the carpet
and our backs become strong
kauri trees.
The sun has officially escaped
Māui’s net.
Jessica Thompson Carr is an artist born and bred in Ōtepoti, New Zealand. She achieved her degree in English and Art History in 2017, and completed her Masters coursework in 2019, whilst working on her internship with Toi Māori in Ōtautahi at the Court Theatre. Jessica is Ngāpuhi and Ngāti Ruanui, and explores and represents her Māori heritage through poetry, fiction, drawing, photography, and painting. She defines herself as a Māori Mermaid, a magical being of two worlds. Contact her via instagram or email her at jessthompson880@gmail.com