APIRANA TAYLOR

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Thoughts before the headstone 08

we were just four artists travelling
in the north reading to the people

i stood before the A-shaped tombstone

HENRY WILLIAMS
the words said

the great man himself

i was drawn to the resting place of
his bones

i’d been out early in the morning walking

the waves broke about in Paihia
as they must’ve done when

the man himself was seen running about the place
with a piece of paper in his hand

before racing off down the path to . . . Waitangi

tufts of grass grow and sprout out of the
headstones temples

the wind blows over everything

we go our good works live on we’re told

in the meantime

motels mushroom up all around the bay

you can’t see the ocean because of the Tuscan villas and
flash eateries, you can get Mexican turtles in your soup
and Amazonian vegan burgers from Italy but . . .

the locals can’t pay the rates

well what would you make of it oh sir

is this what it was all about

rates and property

laid to rest here with your support team of rangatira
sandwiched in between THE OASIS and the
HOLIDAY INN
with the high-rise CONTINENTAL
towering over you!

DEVELOPERS ARE LINING UP to
buy the very spot

they’ll probably shift your bones for a buck

that tells you how some treat history around here
not worth a scrap of paper eh

and JUSTICE

well that too

takoto mai rā i te poho o te atua matua me te manaakitanga o te runga rawa