Unapologetic

I wore my butterfly Sunday dress, All lace and sky-blue seams; I thought it meant I’m harmless, He thought it birthed his dreams. Uncle said my smile was sin, That wings invite the night; He locked the door and leaned right in— “Keep quiet and don’t fight” He snarled that no one’d trust my cries, And that I “led him on” that day; “You begged with flutter-patterned thighs— Now hush and look away.” I scrubbed his breath out of my skin, The sink ran rust-red streams; First blood came far too soon within, And shattered my childhood dreams. My best mate waved; I dodged his touch, No hand could feel quite safe; If he could twist a dress so much, Then any smile was chafe. At night I hugged the ceiling’s dark, And prayed the dawn would stall; Silence gnawed a growing mark No one to hear at all. When weight of secrets bent my spine And sleep refused to stay, I wrote: “The blame was never mine— I’m giving guilt away.” “I’m sorry wings were on my hem, I’...

I pressed the button years ago, It flickered once, then sank below. The doors stayed shut, the light went red, A metaphor, they might have said. Each day I wait in silent halls, Between the cracks of crumbling walls. While others ride from floor to floor, I pace the dust, I watch the door. I dress in hope, I stand up straight, Pretending patience alters fate. But time just smirks with every tick, A cruel, relentless metronome click. I see reflections, faint and warped, Of dreams I built, then life extorted. They fade like steam on window panes. My whispered prayers, my phantom pains. Some say, “Just take the stairs instead,” But mine are missing, cracked, or dead. A spiral down, a lurching bend, Each step I climb just loops again. I’ve shouted, screamed, and banged the steel, Tried trading wounds for something real. But silence echoes back my name, A ghostly curse, a hollow claim. Still here I stand, a soul confined, Trapped on the floor the wo...

From clarity to collapse - a descent into addiction through the addict's own unraveling voice. The First Hit (Euphoria) I met her in a whisper, Silver tongue and glassy grace. She slid beneath my skin like prayer And kissed me into space. No thunder in the needle, Just a hum beneath the skin,  Soft enough to make me weep, Strong enough to let her in. The world turned velvet. My bones turned light. For once in my life, Everything felt right. The Want Becomes Need (Cracks Begin) It was just once. Then once again. Then once became The way I breathe. Lost time. Lost taste. Lost little things. A memory here, A wedding ring. She took my days in pieces Gentle, slow decay. I gave her everything I had And she still asked me to stay. My girl left a note. Said: "You choose." I chose wrong. Or I chose to lose. Fragmentation (Descent) Bills- Gone Teeth- Ache No food / no sleep Just shake Just Shake I think I saw my brother Or a cop Or My shadow Laughed at the wall today Wa...

She heard the cries through paper walls, The shuffled feet, the midnight calls. The rusted bed, the muffled whimpers, The bruises born from unseen fingers. She saw the blood on cotton white, The way her child flinched at night. The way her smile was stitched in pain, But still, she chose to look away. She knew. She folded laundry. Cooked the meat. Prayed at church and took her seat. She kissed his lips, ignored the stain, The house reeked sweetly of her shame. "Don't tell lies," she softly hissed, "He's your father," then dismissed. "You're just confused, you dream too much" As if truth died beneath his touch. She knew. But silence is a softer grave When the monster helps you both behave. When survival means pretending blind And guilt is love, redefined. So the daughter learned to zip her mouth, To clean the sheets, to bleed without. To take the name that wasn't hers, While mother polished silver words. She knew. And now the gi...

They came with scissors and not for thread, But to stitch the Treaty up instead. Cut the words, reshape the frame, Leave the shell, erase the name. Too much mana, too much grief, Too much truth beneath the leaf. So they say: “Let’s bring precision,  Clarity, and good decision.” The Bill’s Aim: “To define the Treaty’s scope and theme, Bring certainty to Crown and team.” But what they mean? Strip it clean. Make it tame, erase the dream. Shrink the waka, gut the text, Say “no offence” and then what’s next? Whiteout laid on sacred vows, A crown still feeding off our cows. But when a haka breaks the floor, Spoken breath from tūpuna lore.  That’s the crime. That gets time. Record ban for culture’s climb. Not for brawls or drunken spite, Not for slurs said late at night. Not for yelling over rules, Or turning Parliament into school. Just a haka. A roar. A stand. So they silenced it with shaking hands. Double standards, front and center: Culture’s punished. Chaos enters. They call it ...