The Great Pa
My eyes trace ever back
to the interior; deviate to
shell strata; where the road
cuts through hillock.
this landscape has such proportion-
your shell beds reveal your presence
not too long ago -
Buried with the fires ashes
Tupuna - your appetitie for cockels & pipis;
claim to the whenua, evident -snapper jawbone, fish scale, neck bone, shell
Tupuna - your mouths ate of these, your fingers made greasy - Sacred Refuse.
In time, the coast & shelf overcame -
the rain & the tide - Now the Pa
Vessels new verse, to the feral winds cry.
Tupuna - your Mokopuna play closest to the edge
to soothe the pain of subsidence - Aue!
Calling my son - warning him of my fears.
Alas, It is I who does not know
the safety of you - Tupuna.
Protectecting the Tangata Whenua.
At the foot of the great Pa
Is Kath & Steve's Whare - the old social club -
A white horse grazes, stands as the whenua
retraces movements under the feet of ancestors
Atop the great Pa
we are between the darkness & the light
we look in to the waha of the kaipara
back to the Urupa
- tide and time overcomes man - rain & time.
Auckland Water Front
Powerless & Phoneless
Sky tower deheaded - burning
Council chambers - bombed
wynard wharf & mt victoria - over run
urban warfare in the CBD the front for the suberbs,
Military hardware & supplies rolling down the southern
to Wellington. For regime change and water.
P
we went out looking
for alastair te ariki campbell
in every bookshop in town
there you were, wasted
and i was thinking
P in your eyes
P in your smile
Perfect just perfect
i sat on the floor
reading the australian girl
beautiful, i'm not beautiful
you, like window dressing
ever changing to catch the
attention of passerbys
Yo Polynesia
At the end of the Ulberg Family reunion
Sister Edwina said of me:
- Douglas has Palagi features, beneath that, is a very Samoan Heart!
My Uncles and Aunties looked gently at me and smiled.
So I wear this inward Polynesia, this Samoan Heart.
Before this enlightenment, I guess I struggled.
Like a cruel Billy T joke
Half of me wanting to get drunk,
The other denying me a house to rent
Because we dig cooking-holes in the floors.
I remember a palagi mate of mine
Commenting - fucking coconuts!
Shipley saying we climb in windows at night
Dawn raids treated us all as overstayers
You told us to stick Talofa Lava up our arse – go home!
Your statistics on :
Life expectancy
Obsesity
Prison populations and
Scolastic under-achievement,
To strip our dignity.
Our grandparents came here
to work in factories
And clean nights.
We grew up down south and out west
Wondering what we were to you,
We were the flavor of the month
Coconut drivers!
Look at what they eat!
Look at their poor kids!
Your mocking didn’t stop with:
Bloody Maori’s and Coconuts.
Now you mock - Fucking Asians!
Your Palagi mocking won’t stick
You are scared of something,
So , lay it on thick
Call us all what you like
We have come to expect this of you.
count every statistic; it will not stop our successes.
Gardenia
Planting
Hawaiian Hibiscus
Radican Gardenia
Sister Edwina
was right
We were going to plant
Hibiscus in the middle
of your garden
We planted mistakenly
Gardenia
“It’s where
She wanted it,
is supposed
to be there,
leave it”
When the Gardenia flowers
with the Hibiscus
How the convexed
Sky blue
opens up
Sun showers
in the middle
afternoon
Come down
upon my skin
like a dry
hungry desert
cracks up
water veins
Hibiscus trumpet blooms
wailing old stories true
some superstition
some dream weaving too
of the old people
the Island
Tula’ele
Our Village
I know you have
gone home
to the garden of Eden
where the Gardenia
Hibiscus bloom
at sunset you run from tree to tree
the breadfruit, mango, paw-paw of
your Mothers garden, stealing fruit.
Dedicated to Edwina Ulberg-Poole
20th September 1991
Flying Nun tenth anniversary bash
Starring
Able Tasmans
David Kilgour and the Strange
Chris Knox
Jean Paul Satre Experience
Goblin Mix
The Bats...
A decade of decadence
Kiwi rock, some hits and near misses
Knoxian banter and blues
Depressed strains, celebrations of love
“Heavenly Pop Hits”
People still watch it, scraggy
Pock marked lead singers
Pimple faced crowds
Flying with the bats
Colliding with the sky
All works Copyright Doug Poole 2004
