The Cycle: Unbroken

When I was a girl, too small to just wonder, my mother would warn me of the laws of karma

She told me to treat people the way I want to be treated and if you’re an asshole, it will come back to bite ya

While the guidance was set with the purest of intentions, it thwarted my ability to reciprocate disaster

If someone was harsh or cruel and demeaning, I never held them accountable for the darkness they threw me

“If you are an asshole, itll come back to bite ya,” and for years it stopped me from holding my boundaries

I thought saying no was being an asshole, I thought not giving was being an asshole

She never taught me how to balance my karma and that letting people degrade me was also being an asshole

My grandparents lived through the Māori colonisation, not the ancient or origins, but the beatings in school

Our language was banished, and speaking it would get you punished with long wooden rulers and whips from the teachers

Our culture forbidden, our ways made taboo - it wasn’t too long before our parents learnt that too

The white man, he came and he stole all our lands. Corrupted our values and tarnished our shelves.

The white man, the white man - he raped and he killed. For there, in those times, is where this cycle began.

I can’t tell these people without being called racist, when will they see that our pain came from them?

My grandparents lived through the modern colonisation, hoping and praying that the white man would leave

Our ancestors told us, “You need to survive.” And that no matter what - karma always comes back round

Tarnished and broken, my grandparents spoke - we’ll teach them ‘bout karma and keep them all safe

My mother, my aunties, my uncles and so, all banded together to ensure our lines chosen

Whatever it takes to keep our line going, if we must suffer in silence then that, we shall do

We’ll teach them to be pure, to be strong in their love because we already know that this world is so dark

Maybe one day, the future will know that this cycle we’re in stems back far beyond our parents

Maybe one day, the desert will grow but for now we must throw this stone in the river

In time the light will prosper as it’s meant to but while this world is so dark, the paramount is survival

We’ll clear what we can and help as much as we can but please understand that our mission is survival

This cycle, this trauma, this beaten down road is signature of our family’s survival

One day, we’ll be free and our children will prosper and when that time comes the cycle will crumble.