Memento

Fr. 1

Aotearoa is the savage place, seeding

A heap of broken images, mixing

Mortuary photos with life

But this went further as

Milton sends an Angel

To whisper our chronicle

Opened-mouthed

At the lip of headland

We passed the photo around

The world twice

Something you said

When I come back to you

Mon Angel never return

To this place.

Whose crayons, red and blue

Bruising each perfect soul

Until the color was evidence

Life has its way with us, against

Your body Lover, we went down

Land falling from our skin

Sand falling from your hair.

Passing the headland,

Aotearoa, your sky made me weep,

Even as obscure, clouded places

A flap of wind, flax painted kite

even as my breath catching, tearing

you away.