Poems from “An Absolute Rush” Performing Arts Program September 25- Oct 5 2006.
Facilitated by Karlo Mila and Renee Liang
The following are poems written during the July and September sessions of Absolute Rush, a school holiday performing arts program for young people aged 12-18 years. Where this program differs from other programs for young people is that it specifically targets young people in the South Auckland community who live in a difficult family or social circumstances and normally wouldn’t have access or exposure to the performing arts. Many of the young people are also behind in their education (some have not attended mainstream schools for years) so their achievements are all the more extraordinary.
Absolute Rush, an initiative of local youth development groups in South Auckland, has run over the July and September school holidays in 2006. The latest Absolute Rush program in September was youth organized and run by a committee of ten teenage leaders. The program had almost no budget, spasmodic donations of food and time but a huge groundswell of energy from locals and the students themselves. Funding is still tenuous for 2007 but the support is there!
From 9 am -3 pm for the ten weekdays of each school holiday period, students attended workshops run by local artists and celebrities, in a range of genres including hip hop, salsa dancing, drama, song composition, rap and acting. Meals and transport were provided for those who needed it, and the program was either free or had a minimal charge attached ($20 for two weeks). At the end of each program the group of young people recorded a CD (including spoken word compositions) and presented a show to the local community.
A poetry workshop run by Karlo Mila, Michael Onslow-Osborne and Renee Liang has been part of both programs. Students were asked to brainstorm sights, sounds, tastes, smells and feelings of their “hood” and then to express their ideas in poetry, rap or song lyrics. The results speak for themselves – moving tales of hope, loss and love that take the reader into the very real world of South Auckland – a place that is not only “Once were Warriors”, but also a city of churches, of gang violence real or imagined, of family love and strong cultural ties. The young people tell it like it is. The facilitators found that some of the young people were limited by vocabulary, poor spelling and over exposure to American rapper lyrics, but even over the brief (1-2) hour period of each workshop, many began to develop a richer emotional vocabulary and to experiment with rhythm and metaphor. Some continued writing after the workshop and brought in new pieces over the following weeks. Many performed their poems during the final show.
Quotes from young people during the poetry workshops:
“I didn’t realize I could write about myself”
“this is a safe place”
“poetry is bad (cool)”
Questions and requests for further information about the Absolute Rush program can be addressed to Renee Liang, piokiwi@gmail.com.
Dirty South
By Mary Cocker
windows smashed, sounds of stealing
rugged street not that appealing
scared of getting a hiding cause there’s not much freedom
dangerous kids joining bloods and crips,
and the other half playing with whips
why can’t we just want what we desire
like on Sunday the beautiful sound of church choir
house alarms, car alarms, sirens and barking dogs
are pretty much what we hear
smashing, bashing, gangs and fights
is everything we all fear
Hories walking around most probably allergic to water
smelly B.O. rugged hoes and mass committed slaughter
Dirty South is a place that’s very dark
We need some help where the fuck is Helen Clark.
whips: pieces of fabric cracked to make a whip noise – popular as toys for children
B.O. : body odour
hories: street people
hoes: females who wear revealing clothing
bloods and crips: local gangs
The Streets I’m From
By David Galuvao
The streets I’m from
It’s different to the streets I walk upon
The streets I’m from
Kids have been beat down
From gangstas that come around.
The streets I’m from
I see a lot of rundown houses
Street kids in stolen cars
Girls wearing tight clothes
Car alarms house alarms going off
I always wonder to myself
What heaven is like.
Loving people, freedom and
Safe from danger
And ways from the bullshit that’s
Around us.
King of kings
Lord of lords
thank you for keeping me safe.
Poem about Red
by Jessie Jones
As you squeeze a rose
the blood may drop
as the blood drops
all the mongrel mob’s crops
packed up to the top
All the beautiful colours
lie so bright
but of course
red can’t be taken out
of your sight
As the sound may grow
louder and louder
barking of dogs
makes my heart beat faster
represent the Mongrel Mob
until I lay dead
of course I still
love the colour of red
Magic and cries
may think they’re strong
but mongrel mob and bludstas
will always live long
Blue
By Waikarakia Teawa
As the sky is blue
Crip cut red
Knowing mum is there,
Blue bells ring
Wear your bandannas
Wear them high
Wear your colours
And let it shine
I was here
But now I’ve gone
I left my blueness
To turn you on
Those who know me
Know me well
Those who don’t
Can go to hell.
Up above
You stand up high
Crip walk
Until you die.
I love you mum
Loveliness inside
Let it show
To everyone you know.
Battle
by FLEWK
Punk you look and listen
But you don’t take it in
Don’t get it twisted
I’m an enemy first
I ain’t a friend
Nigga thinkin you can’t stop me
Not even da pen
But it depends if
You can spit a lyrical line
That could drop me
Wat you stupid or sumthin? You need me
Ta spell it out?
f.l.e.w.k up on dis set
absolute rush yea about to do it again
we do it like you couldn’t
can’t even think
mah flows grow strong
while your punk ass shrinks
pen : penitentiary
drop me: stopping the flow of words, and therefore beating the opponent, in an MC (rap) battle
set : the hood, in this context, going into an opponent’s hood to beat them on home turf
flows: flow of words
Original
By FLEWK
When you r FLEWK yew best ta
gap cuz im strapd and stacked packin gats and
baseball bats in the back of mah Cadillac
lean widit I can rock and sock widit too
reach fo mah glock
so look out cuz I’m about to shoot!
Ya punk ass niggahs gang rite thugs
You ain’t nothing to me
I’m original since 03 F.L.U.K.E
Bangin slangin ropin SWT click
I didn’t really mess widdem GRT
Don’t get lippy cuz da pound is hurtin’ mah hip
And don’t step ta me niggah I’m ready to pop a
Lip and shit straight spittin mix and shit
Don’t choke niggah cuz yah throat is guna b
split
So think again Clendon tell ya friends
Befo you step ta
Mah click
Note: In this rap, the teenage author is speaking metaphorically about a rap battle that he imagines having with an opponent who stole his original moniker of “FLUKE” and forced him to change it to “FLEWK”. All spelling is original.
r: are
yew: you are
gap: leave in a hurry
strapd and stacked: have weapons
packin: have bullets in a clip, ready to use
gats: guns
glock: Glock pistol
gang rite thugs: GRT, a rival gang
pound: gun
click: clique, a group
SWT: a gang
step ta: threaten
choke: in MC terms, when the flow of words dries up – an admission of defeat
Clendon: a suburb of South Auckland, the author’s “hood”.
Blue Life
By Simon Tauia
Life is hard
Life is blue
In my hood it’s hard to live it through
It’s ezy to show hatred
But hard to show love
I’ve always wondered if there’s a Lord up above
I can throw a punch
But I can’t walk away
The funny thing is I love the pain
I had a dream where the grass is green
And there was a hope of peace for you and me
But in reality it’s a whole different scene
MYC tribute (song)
I woke up this morning
I wondered what to do
Passion disguised my feelings
I looked up to you
You played a part in my life
So I’ll stay true
This is a story of a place
I once knew
CHORUS
You kept me off the street
You’re better than the rest
Discomfort from defeat
MYC is the best
By Rawiri Ngawhika
Note: MYC, or Manukau Youth Centre , was the venue and fundholder for the first Absolute Rush performing arts program. It was a stand alone youth support facility that ran in Manukau for 12 years but suddenly had to close in August 2006 due to lack of funds, less than three weeks after the hugely successful conclusion of the Absolute Rush performing arts program attended by over 115 young people from South Auckland. This song was written by a young man who attended the first program and chaired the youth committee which organized and ran the second Absolute Rush program in September 2006.
Absolute Rush Theme Song
1st Verse
Living in my streets
Rising to defeat
We’ve found an answer
The answer we will speak
Suburb of tribes
War makes warriors
To kill another day
The heavy price to pay
CHORUS
Pull me up from darkness
Now I’m free
Take me out of the ghetto
That is what I wanna be
This is what I wanna do
The hood’s my symphony
Absolute Rush is for me
2nd Verse
Pain and struggles
And voices from our mind
These are our stories
Beginning to the end
Over the Pacific
Dreams will begin
From the heartbeat
To the hard youth
Our stories will survive
By the Absolute Rush Staff committee (idea and original words by Rawiri Ngawhika)
