like egypt  opoutukeha’s fate

was never written in the stars

it was writ on a piece o park

in grey lynn by a kahawai

the gardener dug up in the dirt

a goddam miracle  memory

in soil  unstoppable steak

silver-wet &  whatta girl

her  flip-flapping tail all

tenacious  in the earth

  this kahawai tried to turn

the light back on  she did

gleaming  the gardener said

she went like wwow! wit her

fireworks while the dusk was

failing  showt the gardner the

everythink even da shadows n

his shed where he’d hung her

high (his trophy fish) on the

wall so he cd hear her sing

  (and she sang sweet):

remember how i bathed

youse nourisht youse

fed youse all till you fartd

and now all i smell is

yr piss running warm

over my hauraki eels

fossilized stiff on the path

off williamson’s   still

pointing the way bk 2 okā pā

quarried way off the radar
they were my friends