Poems of the Week

The Ties That Bind

by David Galef

“Rawiri Waititi, the co-leader of New Zealand’s Maori Party, was removed from Parliament
on Tuesday for wearing a traditional Maori pendant instead of the required necktie
which he said was ‘a colonial noose.'”
The New York Times

The New Zealand parliament decided
that
All their members must wear
a cravat.
But what if a member’s
Maori?
Must he dress so
flowery?
The tie’s a hangup of colonial
abuse.
In short, no noose is
good noose.