AUDREY BROWN-PEREIRA

Born in Rarotonga and raised in Papatoetoe, Audrey Teuki Tetupuariki Tuioti Brown-Pereira is of Cook Islands Māori, Sāmoan and Pālagi descent. Audrey published Threads of Tivaevae: Kaleidoskope of Kolours with Veronica Vaevae and has been working on a new collection from which various pieces have appeared online, including in Trout and Pasifika Poetry. Currently living along the Capital Beltway in the United States, she is married to Ben and they have two daughters, Lisi-Malia and Rose.

the reincarnated mm: a cross cultural exchange between the big island taxi drivers and the young girl a expert visiting sāmoa for the south pacific games

read a story today
about our home
story written by a young girl	a expert	a journalist the young girl write like another young girl from america but girl from america be dead long time ago and this girl just born yesterday

the young girl

write like she sweet n sour or mixed up pretty yuck complain of slow internet and all talk from taxi man as if it be true girl write bout clock tower and wooden buses and island time and money to churches and rubber tyre bbq food and open style houses and brand new stereos and televisions inside them like we people aint got no choice in what we choose to do?

young girl never do no homework or study before or while she be here

never know history of clock tower

never know foundation of peoples’ constitution

what people fought for

what people died for

what a place stand for today

she write like where she come from

be so clean so pretty and so smart

so clean, so pretty and so smart – why where she come from they drop asbestos in the sea?

she write her story cause she think she be funny

and her white man boss laugh with her too

no one ever think in a past life he help fight for self-determination

but young girl she never write about tangata enua or tangata whenua only tagata fanua o sāmoa

lighten up white man boss say

have a sense a humour

why sāmoa not laugh like ete and tofiga?
	young girl write a laughing story bout a place she visit only a few days she a expert on sport and taking photo not here to know or meet people of land she visit
cause she too busy oh so busy	only talk taxi drivers who chat her up and fall her off as they drive her from one deadline to another past traffic lights she not knowing be free turn right
the young girl she so clean so pretty	so smart and so funny [she be hilarious] like the young girl long dead from america

she write cause she think she know truth with eyes and ears

when all time taxi driver be laughing

cause his english be no good

he tell young girl what she want to hear

and she so clever she write down every word.