Likeness: A Self-Portrait
By Kimiko Hahn
Like Professor Sara Lewis I view the meadow as theater
for passion and yearning courtship duets
competitions for affection
cruel deception and gruesome death
Like the Professor fluent in firefly I am fluent in
on-the-fly and on-the-sly
when circumstances are well well lit
*
Like a female firefly I am remarkably picky
when checking out flashy males
because long-lasting pulses
mean a lot when it comes to say nuptial gifts
—packages of protein injected with sperm—
furthermore it's crucial to pay attention
yes I tell my daughters
pay attention to attention
*
Unlike male fireflies
who do not need to burn many extra calories
to make flashes
because only a tiny bit of energy needed
I do
burn a lot of fuel in the service of being flashy:
shimmying at Danceteria
acting-out at the Nuyorican
leafletting at Kentile
to overthrow The Man
*
And what can I say?
like the cannibal Photuris firefly that
pounces bites then sucks the blood
of the special other
for ill-tasting chemicals
which it utilizes for protection
well, me, too—
I take her in to ward her off
*
who at times sits on a blade of grass, responding
to male fireflies with deceptive flashes
mimic deceive devour
like legend like fairy tale
like office copy-room
*
heading off to Belize
unlike Professor Sara Lewis
who found herself
—instead of mulling over coral reefs—
espying firefly sexual selection and
comparing the winks to Darwin's thesis on
male displays of antlers and feathers
though it is true that at the book launch where Harold read Bestial
I took note of his commanding backlist
*
Lastly also like fireflies what I cook up
can present an unpleasant meal
although mine does not glow
although I wish I could produce glowy things
—sestina, sukiyaki, manifesto—
However, like firefly glow
I turned on during courtship Harold said so and
he himself is brilliant
especially at nightfall
—though not from enzymes in his tail—
* * *
Kimiko Hahn, "Likeness A Self Portrait" from Foreign Bodies. Copyright © 2020 by Kimiko Hahn. Reprinted by permission of W. W. Norton & Company, Inc..
Source:
Foreign Bodies
(W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2020)
