Dear South Auckland

you beautiful wild thing

you are not the comments section of news articles

full of tired assumptions

written by the hands of lazy reporters

whose feet have never walked our streets

you are not the epi-centre of destruction

you are not a hurricane of false narratives

Dear South Auckland Pasifka family

it’s not your fault

only healing for you

to drown out the false speakers

South Auckland

you are womb of creatives

for those that mend

and relentless advocates

of teachers that disrupt the system

and academics that flipped the status quo

a home for parents doing double shifts

from villages that had to become their own eco-system

South Auckland

you are playgrounds that are never empty

and the best place to buy taro

the home away from home

for children of the moana

we flock to you when we need to remember our roots

South Auckland

my first home after my mothers belly

South Auckland

you know who you really are

South Auckland

you straighten that spine of resilience

and speak

Feature image: James Jardine / Flickr