who will speak?
who will speak for
the teenagers raped flat
by ‘boyfriend’s’ fistic ego?
I will.
who will parley for
the indigenes ripped raw
by ‘master’s’ rancid tongue?
I will.
who will talk for
the invalids invalidated
by bureaucrat’s grumpy stamp?
I will.
who will argue for
the masses abnegated
by tyrant’s wartorn gun?
I will
I’ll stand.
I’ll korero.
I’ll be staunch.
I will
scrawl down lines in the sand
&
shout them relentless.
set them in stone.
I have.
[korero is New Zealand Maori for talk.]
friend
let me be your friend
your true friend
and on those dark days
when the hardness hits your heart
turn to me
&
I will soothe our path.
Vaughan Rapatahana: New Zealand Maori, married to a lady from Philippines, where we also have a home. We live and work in Hong Kong and ours' is a polyglottal family.
Published very widely in variety of genre: two books of poetry in 2011 being Home Away Elsewhere (Proverse Hong Kong) and china as kafka (Kilmog Press, Aotearoa-NZ.) Links as here: http://www.chineseupress.com/asp/e_Book_card.asp?BookID=3222&Lang=E and http://kilmogpress.blogspot.com/2011/11/china-as-kafka-vaughan-rapatahana.html
June 2012 will see publication of the significant critical work English Language as Hydra (Multilingual Matters, U.K.) Link as here: http://www.multilingual-matters.com/display.asp?isb=9781847697493
Finally, yes - I have been through severe mental torment and affliction, being institutionalized at one stage many years ago. Being Indigenous and marginalized has also been a factor in this situation, as well as having had quite a few torrid family situations. Engari kaore nga raruraru (But - no problems.)
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