The ape standing staunch
Guarding the tinnie house door
Is losing its shape
Bob skanks at 24
The waft of marijuana
Snakes out of 22
Towards the Nanny
Planting her kamokamo
By the lavender
Scarved youth pass by
Swaggering with bravado
Avoiding your eyes
Gingerly I step
Over the coca cola
Smeared in dog shit
The tar seal beckons
Glittering embedded bright
Miraged treasure
Unexpectedly
With gatling-like dispersal
Burst shots of laughter
Recoiling back to 34
Note: Mooloos is my brother’s nickname for Murupara, a predominantly Māori township located in an isolated region of the Bay of Plenty, Aotearoa New Zealand. Built in the 1950s to service the burgeoning forestry industry, Murupara has slowly over the years succumbed to a slow death by a million cuts. Government policy in the 1980s, central government disinterest, and growing unemployment have aided its deterioration. With this comes all manner of socioeconomic tensions and it’s not unusual to find extremes of wealth and poverty existing within the same family.
2 Responses to Mooloos