Ask the Brindled
Truth spoken by poets matters more simply because the poet settles for nothing but the truth, so help her Veritas, daughter of Saturn. Such vigilance is arduous, and as a queer, Indigenous Hawaiian, No’u Revilla is as singular a voice as can be found. Recently, Ask the Brindled was selected as a winner of the National Poetry Series by Rick Barot. As an assistant professor at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, No’u champions Ōiwi literature in her creative writing courses.
Don’t have sex with gods
they hand me Bibles
build church pews between my legs.
do your rosary.
do your rosary, baby.
but Father, forgive me—
I use my rosary as rope
the way Maui hauled the sun,
the way Maui hauled islands.if ʻāina is that which feeds,
if aloha ʻāina is love and lover of land,
then she who feeds is she who fucks.
ʻĀina will fuck back.what happens when the rope breaks?
do your rosary. don’t do your rosary, baby.
we’ve always had sex with gods.
Reviewed by
Matt Sutherland
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. No fee was paid by the publisher for this review. Foreword Reviews only recommends books that we love. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
