Karangahape Road

Under fluorescent coloured lights
Bodies pulsate in mesh and silk
Cheekbones glisten 
On otherworldly creatures

Flags of rainbow stripes adorn sweaty walls
Kaleidoscope eyes and disco doll dresses
Queens and Kweens and Qweeeenz
You lean in to touch my back
And I feel the sharp looks of others

In your red dress you are a vision 
Of femininity and power
But that man in the corner,
He thinks you wore it for him

His eyes are hungry as he takes you in
You dance with me but he thinks
You dance for him

Sir, why are you here?
I thought we were meant to feel safe?
To coexist
In a sacred space 
Of glitter and sequins and DJ booths
Who brought you here, to think you could feast? 
On what is not, and will never will be, yours?

Written by Zoë Frances Samson