New verse by Kirikiriroa writer essa may ranapiri.

 

what the poem isn’t allowed to do

the poem isn’t allowed to say
abolish the police
abolish the police
abolish the police

return their uniforms to the dirt
and their sirens to the odyssey

tie a leash to a grenade and send it off
teach it how to PR good
pet mammals
run that straight-up racism through its fur

see how Peters bets on horses
beehive at the races
see how Bridges rides the fingers of the embarrassingly poor
holds true to the position
gotta be tough on crime
fuck your whānau

classic Māori in limousine waka
dressed in suits
tracing a line back to RJB design
here is your fucking advertisement

across the benches see how the ‘worker’s party’ promises
more cops more cops more cops
for a safer tomorrow
from those that don’t earn enough to whitewash their own whakapapa

you’d think Te Tiriti promised us a resort behind bars
shit pollocked to our tikanga

as kids lungs fill with black mould
instagram #thatcutepovertylife
gotta bleach the ceiling every week
if you can’t see it
it ain’t there

class warfare for class welfare
a poem isn’t allowed to say a lot of rich cunts gonna die
just paint a pretty picture of red black and white

how scenic is not something to say about the revolution
how revolting doesn’t add to the tourist dollar

keep tāngata and whenua away from each other
with the reality of
a taser shock
and the dream of
a baton floating backwards into the sky

and never repeat
abolish the police
abolish the police
abolish the police

 

 

essa may ranapiri, 2018

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