Belief is a Manatee in Kansas by Sharon Suzuki-Martinez
The manatee from England drifted its way to Arizona.
For a week, it got stuck in Kansas. Not surprising
since Kansas has no other weather than tornadoes
and dust in the wind, so they say.
I would discover the delay of the manatee was actually
due to the pandemic and earthquakes caused by fracking.
I wondered if Kansans believe crowning food with pineapple
renders it Hawaiian. While I am no expert on the Midwest,
I am quite the dilettante on lazy truths.
Eventually, the English manatee arrived at my door. Dusty, but sound.
He is the Prince of Sea Cows. His gaze glimmers
like ruby slippers. He is my cup of tea. My cream and sugar.
The pineapple of my eye. My lull in the heartland.
Sharon Suzuki-Martinez’s first book, The Way of All Flux (New Rivers Press, 2012) won the New Rivers Press MVP Poetry Prize. Her chapbook, A Glimpse of Birds over O’odham Land, was published by Rinky Dink Press in 2021. Originally from Hawaii, she now lives in Tempe, Arizona. She tweets @SuzukiMartinez