Vortex Mega Howler

Dan and Steve, Steve and Dan, in a field, at the beach,

with some lads, having a throw, having a laugh

feeling the Power™, feeling each other, feeling.

The gift of innocence lands in their palms with a hush,

they let it rip. Pretty boy come hither rugby sirens call us

with their mesmeric whine, as we lose the voice of every

other language and forget all natural and manmade knowledge,

especially the fact that Steve Devine now suffers chronic migraines

and depression from years of head knocks and institutional negligence,

and Dan Carter sells Cryptocurrency.

I throw it counter-clockwise with my left hand and pray

it will suck the scream from the air and send us back

to a place where we are guided by noise.

When does a howl become an interrogation?

When was the last time you went outside for pleasure, Steve?

What remains in the age of undiscovered yearning, Dan?

When will the solar system stop spinning us into a perpetual newness?

If you could do it all again, would you? Would you dive into the sand

and wake up, a child, once more? How far would you go

for one last moment under an unspoiled sky? 30? 60? 90 metres?

Jordan Hamel is an Aotearoa writer, poet and performer. He was the 2018 NZ Poetry Slam champion and competed at the World Poetry Slam Champs. His debut poetry collection Everyone is Everyone Except You was recently published by Dead Bird Books.  He is also the co-editor of No Other Place to Stand, an anthology of Aotearoa climate change poetry from Auckland University Press. He is currently studying for an MFA at the University of Michigan on a Fulbright Scholarship. He misses his friends and enemies back home very much.