'What's happened here in Australia?' another new poem that I recently performed at the exhibition of 'Māori Modern' in Perth

Land stolen
Generations
Nation after nation
Coming to Australia
Everyone's getting paid yeah?
Except the aborigine
Like the Māori
Modern
From New Zea-land
Cash in hand
Original man left thinking
What about my land?
Stolen
Into a system
Stolen
In sin
Stolen
It was so grim
Stolen
Generations
What's happened here in Australia?
Gold, pink diamonds, aluminum, iron ore
More, more, more
Gimme more
But we want more!
Killed with legislative law
Legal atrocities
Remember please
Over 150 years
Bringing the murder, abuse and the beers
So many real fears
When your children and grandchildren, sisters, brothers, fathers, mothers
Are classified as just some flora and fauna
And we all know what they do to the trees here
Deforestation
Degradation
Original ancient people
I mourn with ya
The modern Māori remembers
In the land of milk and honey
It was not funny
When aborigines
Were legal to kill
And now even still
We remember
Who we are
We remember who you are

'Rise sister rise' a new poem

Here's one of my new poems that I performed at the exhibition opening for 'Māori Modern' in Perth recently.

Rise sister rise
And rise again
Put down the pain
And rise sister rise
Heal the wound
Look to the moon
The sun
The earth
And the stars
All of which you are made of
Your body
Made up of the love of thousands
A reflection of your ancestors
So rise sister rise
To spite everything
And because of it
Rise sister rise
Now is the time
E Hine, Rise
E Hine, Rise
E Hine, Rise

A Māori Art + Music Salon in Amsterdam, The Netherlands

On May 30th, 2017 I was thrilled to be involved in a Māori Art + Music Salon in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, alongside some of my favourite artists and cultural practitioners, Julie Paama-Pengelly, Pip Hartley and Jerome Kavanagh.

Thanks to Manifacto Amsterdam for hosting us, it was a fun night!

More info about the event can be found over on the Toi Tangata Māori Art Gallery page, here.