Brandy Nālani McDougall: Pick of the Week [ed. Terence Winch]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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On Cooking Captain Cook

 

If you ask the blonde-haired concierge

at the Grand Kīhei, he will tell you

        that we ate him whole,

        strung his white meat on a stick,

        filled his mouth with apples,

        and slow-roasted him over fire.

 

The sunburned vendor selling t-shirts

in Lāhaina will say we ate him, too,

but only certain parts:           

        the head, heart, hands

        wrapped in a kind of spinach

        and held over hot lava.

 

The owner of the Hoola-Hoola Bar

and Grill will say we only ate him

for lack of fine cuisine,

        rubbed his skin with sea salt

        then boiled him in coconut milk

        and served him on a bed of yams.

 

My anthropology professor, long researching

ancient cultures, will offer explanations

from his latest book:

        The white-skinned men seemed gods

        to those without metal or written words.

        by eating him they meant to become him.

 

But if you ask my tūtū

while she waters her orchids and protea

she will invite you in

to eat, to eat.

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Brandy Nālani McDougall is a Kanaka ʻŌiwi (Hawaiʻi, Maui, and Kauaʻi lineages) poet raised on the slopes of Haleakalā on Maui. She holds an MFA in poetry from the University of Oregon and a PhD in English from the University of Hawaiʻi. Brandy Nālani McDougall was recently selected as the Hawaiʻi State Poet Laureate.

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   Three Hawaiian women and one Hawaiian man sitting on the ground eating taro, with four bowls in front of them. Late 19th century lithograph.

Comments

[Grace Cavalieri]

A tasty culinary political poem.

[Jose Padua]

Love this one!

[David Lehman]

Great last stanza -- and the punning title works overtime.

[lally]

bam!

[Eileen]

Great poem and art work!!

[Susan Campbell]

Tasty politics. Terrific artwork!

[Bernard Welt]

Congratulations to Ms Brandy Nālani McDougall on the poet laureate position. I wish I'd had this poem when I taught a course on Indigenous perceptions of colonizers and vice-versa; it summarizes precisely the controversy over cannibalism that fueled a lot of our discussion.
As I always recall: "Should asparagus be eaten with the fingers? No, ---" Well, you know the rest ...

[Jen Miller]

Love the flow of this poem, and the last stanza is *chef's kiss*.

[Don Berger]

The freshest look(s) at history that I can remember, a strong narrative, with such sudden enigmatic closing lines. Thanks very much for posting this, T, and Brandy, I admire how concretely and intelligently you show us your own and others' serious concerns here, in a handful of power-packed lyrical stanzas.

[Phyllis Rosenzweig]

Startling, gorgeous, sensual and powerful. Thanks.

[Terence Winch]

Thanks, Don, for another great comment.

[Jacqueline L.]

Tasty on all levels--laurels deserved.