A chronically online ancestor
I’m the ancestor with the digital footprint
I shudder to think of you looking me up
will you yikes face? Will you smile?
Will I stand as an example
of the vanity and naivety of the times?
Will I represent something else for you?
I’m the kind of ancestor who overshared
so you’ll never have to wonder what I was like
may you see clearer than I ever did
A hoarding ancestor
I’m so sorry I probably will leave you clutter
I love clutter trinkets books papers feathers
stones dirt shells dolls beads threads thru
threads thru cassette tapes dvds empty piggy
banks birthday cards wrinkled prints also
we may try leave you a treasure hunt
we’ve talked about burying something
in the park we like to walk
An anxious ancestor
Maybe not a sparkle sparkle ancestor
maybe an embarrassing ancestor
definitely an anxious ancestor
I’ll understand how it feels when it seems
the breath won’t come into your chest properly
and your pulse is too fast I’ll be there
a big old punga pulling you back
a hopeful ancestor
In this life and beyond
I hope I got our reo back for you
I think of you during classes
half of this for you half of this for me
I stammer thru kupu hoping that you will
never know what it’s like growing up
without your mother tongue in your mouth
a hopeful ancestor
I hope we left a better world for you
and if it’s still looking dire I hope
I left you some grit to fight
I think about you at the Toitū Te Tiriti hīkoi
The Free Palestine rallies the Climate protest
The Fuck You Get Out Of Our Town Brian Tamaki rally
I want so badly for you to have a better world
a loving illuminated world where Land is Back and
celebrity is dead and nature is everywhere
A hopeful ancestor
There is a lot of hoping that you won’t have to
go thru this know this system may it burn down
long before your time
beneath that there is the smaller hope that
at least some of the weight will be lifted
anything rather than nothing no matter how slight
and everything will be a little softer
when you land
A hopeful ancestor
I will send you magnificent manu
to look you in the eye and tell you
you’re going to be ok
I will send well-meaning inconveniences
to make you groan and then laugh
gifts galore and human horrors
everything I do is for you mokopuna
everything I do for me is for you
is for all of us
I’ll be riding with you on the wave
guiding you to the shore
I will make sure you inherit this hope
Featured artwork courtesy of author.
