Flag planted,
You declare time terra nullius,
Erasing aeons of southern cycles
Of rising suns, moons and stars,
Flipping constellations,
Deeming them
Non-sensical caricatures
Craving northern regularity
So, you justify
The splitting of space and time,
Ignoring the reality
Of indigenous relativity,
Rendering the gravity
Of whenua and place
Dissonant noise
To exclude and control
Thus, sanctioning
The shackling of te taiao,
Her ebbs and flows seized
By your straight-edged hands,
Slicing seasons
Into mechanised moments,
Taming time’s terrain
With each tick, tick, tick
Your regimented steps
Marched with military precision
Trample Papa and Rangi’s
Knowing, natural rhythms,
Ngā tohu o ngā Āriki
Woven in mōteatea,
Chanted and trusted
For countless generations
Aryan McKay
Ngāpuhi and Ngāti Porou
BA - Honours in Psychology
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