Dominance

We are the only girls still employed

here // months into our working holidays

they placed the long-haired white teeth

up at reception  // but I’ve been scrubbing

camper vans since August // desperate

to leave // Sabrina quit weeks ago with

out saying goodbye // abandoned me to

greasy hands who only call me Girl // so

I weave my way to the front desk // to chat

in the heat // to hear my name // relief // until

Eleanor announces Mark grabbed one of

her breasts at the party & // laughs // twists

her freckled hands // explains afterwards

they shared a cab & he offered to sleep

with her // so generous // his drunk body

spread like jam // across the backseat

Dylan scoffs // her throat thick with cigarettes

& says // We’ll stay away from him now //

like they could skirt their boss // like his wife

isn’t at home cooking a roast of knees // like

he didn’t try to hug me once // started

running up behind me // a jackal ready

to pounce // like I didn’t have to raise

my finger & // scold & // shout // like

Don’t was the only word I’ve ever

spoken // like I could keep this job

with my heel on his jaw // like I could

stretch a bullet // & make a man beg

Carrie Rudzinski is an American-New Zealand poet who has performed her work over the past 20 years in seven countries and been featured in Bustle, HuffPost, and Teen Vogue. She co-edited Rapture: An Anthology of Performance Poetry from Aotearoa New Zealand (AUP, 2023) and her work has been published in Landfall, The Spinoff, Stasis Journal, Catalyst, and Muzzle. She is the co-creator of Hysterical, which won Best New Aotearoa Play at the Wellington Theatre Awards and Outstanding Performance Poetry at Auckland Fringe. In 2025, she completed her Masters of Creative Writing at Te Herenga Waka’s International Institute of Modern Letters.