Afterwards

Afterwards

The old man passes by
Got no bread no kai
His best days behind
But the sun Ra reminds
Him of past glories
Scan less stories
Infamy
And the extension of his family
Like the strands of his long white beard
Hiding his moko
The family
Every breath a memory
Share my air
We breathe the same air
Memory
Only he will own for eternity
Dreams only he will know
When youthful he was
He pranced
Danced
And took chances
Over poker gamеs
With men at freezing works
With sharp knives
Hidden down thеir socks
The next life
To join the ones who came before
A young mans dance
Pushing out the waka
To the heavens to meet
The wahine angel spirits of his adolescence
Misfortune
Gay Abandon
Mistrust
These women he must hold in his suspicion
Kia kaha
Fa' a Malosi
Step ye not backwards