My Mum’s Marae in Mt Eden

My Mum’s apartment in Mt Eden is our marae

My cousins and I use it as such

At my Mum’s marae we practise our singing

We spend one hour flicking through YouTube clips, (preferably with guitar chords included)

One hour actually singing

And two hours laid out marae style recovering.

My Mum’s neighbours at her apartment in Mt Eden don’t like us

We wonder if they’ve ever done a pūkana

We see them glaring at us from their balconies and decide to put on a show

I grab my firmest poi and give them a spin

How do you like that inconsistent beat?

We decide to do Ka Panapana just for the lols

My Mum’s moving out of her apartment and possibly out of Mt Eden

I just can’t imagine the walls without our toothless smiles

Our makeshift ātea and atamira where we would dance silly

The way Purea Nei on a shitty speaker would always make us cry

Our cleanup crew putting away blankets, mattresses and cups of tea

I think I’ll miss being a bad singing Māori at my Mum’s marae in Mt Eden