auckland triptych

     I

so these palsied pākehā

in name tag munitions

stroll down queen street,

every one

in

six

long-sleeve

checkered,

buttoned down

    &

shades stuck like

pelican eyes

adrift their balding

crowns:

their numbers

edging towards           extinction

but still clasping the reins –

still reigning, eh.

    II

multiethnic

multicultural

polyglottal;

various hues of brown,

their black-haired frenzy

pirouetting

the same parade ground,

as student horde

&

shop assistant army,

pumping the international

foodhalls

in fads

never fed before;

calling for a curry,

cavorting for a kebab,

here to stay

– thus far –

in mass silent

limbo.

  III

so the P.I. guys

now hold

thin cardboard cups

as they squat

in    

sequence

down

the   w  i  d  e   pavements,

eyes trying

to grasp yours’

In guilt –

‘any spare change’ indeed –

while ngā Māori,

the inaugural,

still clean the bins

  &

tote

their w a y w a r d

tots.

I’m sort of

wondering why

their        gaps         never go,

how the classes

neverclose

  &

how now,

there’s so many

new kids

  on

the block.

Vaughan Rapatahana (Te Ātiawa) commutes between homes in Hong Kong, Philippines and Aotearoa New Zealand. He is widely published across several genre in both his main languages, te reo Māori and English and his work has been translated into Bahasa Malaysia, Italian, French, Mandarin.

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