by Arielle Kaimana Taramasco
as bees are soothed by smoke
I was calmed by yours
you came into my home
my buzzing turmoil
diminished with a whiff
of your cigarette
I watched
in slow motion
as you cleared my walls
free of any remnants of me
I watched
no,
I let
you leave with no sting
and everything I had created
who am I
if all I am
has left with you
who couldn’t keep me?
Arielle Kaimana Taramasco is a Native Hawaiian writer, photojournalist, and artist currently based in San Diego, CA. Her current works on cultural identity have been published in The Driftwood, Honolulu Star-Advertiser, Freesurf and Makai Magazines, and My Hawaii Story.
Hawaii Pacific Review 