Sofia Drew
Excavation
when I was seven / I wanted to be a marine biologist / even though I was terrified of the ocean / of what lurked above / super hypochondriac / stubbed toes kept me out of action / warranted hopping in / and out of / everything for weeks / I liked to believe / that the pōhutukawa leaves that had jumped / and fallen face-first / onto setting concrete / were fossils / only I could trace / each history / from petiole to cranium / I’m part of the most nostalgic generation / so my favourite era is the palaeocene / and the future is already buried in sediment / six feet deep / my favourite fossil is this: / me, moon-face, grainy, grinning / I’m overexposed / left too long in the tungsten glow of / still believing in everything / I catch each blurry particle / looking for something I recognise / gather each square of skin / like confetti / like celebration / like pōhutukawa leaves / blown into the wind without a wish
Sofia Drew is a high school student living in Tāmaki Makaurau. Her talents include (but are not limited to) impersonating seagulls, being indecisive, and befriending the cats in her neighbourhood.