captain cook
went to the hawaiian islands
in the seventeen-seventies

he originally called them
the sandwich islands
after the earl of sandwich

at
first-contact
with the europeans,
the islanders looked at the ships
the iron implements
with ideas
to obtain some for themselves

captain cook and crew were like-the-gods
trading their sex and jewels with the crew
for cook's iron nails and trinkets

but when cook landed the bigisland
the 2nd-time
the islanders saw cook and crew
taking a siesta eating bananas

this gave them cognitive-indigestion
for the gods don't eat food

the third landing in seventeen-seventy-nine
the polynesians killed cook and crew
on the shore of kealakekua bay
during the festival to the fertility god lono

i saw the monument saying
this the spot captain cook fell

cook didn't die for eating bananas

but for lying to the polynesian people
pretending he was god
skinning them for sex
and jewels

just as some (some not all)
televangelists and politicians
overawe the gullible people today
pretending they are sent from above
skinning millions
out of their money and brains

two hundred and fifty
years after cook

wake up
they eat bananas 







2.2 10/8
© Brian Peter Hodgkinson