04-01-2026, 08:34 AM
The Mo’ai
When the boats ripped into our shores,
they claimed the earth and straddled her.
The boat-people rule the shackle and hook,
masters of metal, our slings outmatched.
At dusk they dust
off their hands and sleep quiet
in tall white tents.
But past the lakes of children’s blood,
beyond the smell of burning bark,
the Mo’ai watches all.
On rugged peaks they stand upright,
carved from rock and hoisted tight,
the Mo’ai watches all.
Soon the kids would trace their ribs,
and mothers hid their bubbled skin.
The stones we dyed with red and white
to save the tales that once were told
would wash away in flood and fright.
But
the Mo’ai still stands on bloodied stone.
It knows their sins from skin to bone.
'A View of the Monuments of Easter Island' painted by William Hodges in 1775 following British discovery of the Easter Island (or Rapa Nui).
Later European colonisation led to slave raids, famine, the spread of smallpox, and the elimination of about 95% of the native population. Around 900 Mo'ai monuments survive today, having stood for around seven centuries.
When the boats ripped into our shores,
they claimed the earth and straddled her.
The boat-people rule the shackle and hook,
masters of metal, our slings outmatched.
At dusk they dust
off their hands and sleep quiet
in tall white tents.
But past the lakes of children’s blood,
beyond the smell of burning bark,
the Mo’ai watches all.
On rugged peaks they stand upright,
carved from rock and hoisted tight,
the Mo’ai watches all.
Soon the kids would trace their ribs,
and mothers hid their bubbled skin.
The stones we dyed with red and white
to save the tales that once were told
would wash away in flood and fright.
But
the Mo’ai still stands on bloodied stone.
It knows their sins from skin to bone.
'A View of the Monuments of Easter Island' painted by William Hodges in 1775 following British discovery of the Easter Island (or Rapa Nui).
Later European colonisation led to slave raids, famine, the spread of smallpox, and the elimination of about 95% of the native population. Around 900 Mo'ai monuments survive today, having stood for around seven centuries.