mr palmer says*

mr palmer says
 politely matatau in pūoro
  follow your style

mr palmer wanted
 a kaihanga empire
  might’ve been whaitake
   in this epidemic of garage beds
    and car homes
   went to study whakairo
  realised
 te ao pākehā holds up
  those that acquire
   where te ao māori holds up
  those that contribute
so

mr palmer
 spends his weekends
  teaching taonga tuku iho
   reviving lost mātauranga
    for lost mana whenua

    and i sand
   my kōauau
  eyeing up

a putorino

*Sam Palmer of Taonga Puoro ki Te Upoko o te Ika – Pāorooro ki tua

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Miriama Gemmell (Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāti Pāhauwera) is a poet from Aotearoa New Zealand. Her poems can be found in Awa Wahine, Turbine | Kapohau, Te Whē, Ko Aotearoa Tātou and Sweet Mammalian.