In the hush before dawn,
the pot breathes whawhākāinga—
bones turning, herbs sighing,
mānuka smoke curling
into faces I almost know.
Carrots sink—each eye watching.
Sea salt from Hauraki spills
a genealogy
of glinting salt
into broth,
where bird slips soft
as kehua spirits, home.
Outside, Taraua rain murmurs,
a pulse of whenua in my chest,
warmth seeded in marrow.
Each sip spills stories:
illness folded into song,
love steeped in soil,
this kitchen a canoe
bearing us home.
I devour memory—
the broth hums;
the ancestors taste me back.
The fire keeps its breath near.
We eat.
We listen.
About the author:
Topher Shields is an emerging poet from Aotearoa New Zealand. His work appears or is forthcoming in Puerto del Sol, The Shore, The Dewdrop, Cathexis Northwest Press, The Bangalore Review, and Half and One.
Writing from within Aotearoa’s bilingual soundscape, he explores silence, ritual, and queer belonging as acts of resistance and remembrance.
Part of our Halloween 2025 Issue. New stories, poems, and essays now through October 31, 2025.
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Tangled Locks Journal 
Beautiful! Rich and savory.
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