Wild dogs under my skirt - Tuisata Avia

Went to the finals of the Auckland NZPoetrySlam on Friday night. What a pleasure to hear Tuisata Avia read this poem. This poem has such special meaning for me and to experience it read by the poet, herself, was an unbelievable experience. Thank-you Tuisata Avia XX



Wild dogs under my skirt - Tuisata Avia

I want to tattoo my legs.

Not blue or green

but black.

I want to sit opposite the tufuga

and know he means me pain.

I want him to bring out his chisel

and hammer 

and strike my thighs

the whole circumference of them

like walking right round the world

like paddling across the whole Pacific

in a log

knowing that once you’ve pushed off

loaded the dogs on board

there’s no looking back now, Bingo.

I want my legs as sharp as dogs’ teeth

wild dogs

wild Samoan dogs

the mangy kind that bite strangers.

I want my legs like octopus

black octopus

that catch rats and eat them.

I even want my legs like centipedes

the black ones

that sting and swell for weeks.

And when it’s done

I want the tufuga

to sit back and know they’re not his

they never were

I want to frighten my lovers

let them sit across from me

and whistle through their teeth.

(Wild Dogs Under My Skirt, 65-66)

retrieved from: http://www.nzepc.auckland.ac.nz/pasifika/avia6.asp