Port Chalmers Hotel (in memoriam)

There's a magic bus that takes
you on a trip where it’s ok
to drink wine in transit,
the driver is more stoned than you
and white kids argue over
Kendrick Lamar’s cultural impact.

All of this to be enjoyed or endured,
regardless forgotten, upon arrival
in the town without trade.
Sailors’ and botanists’ peace disturbed
by the latest local EP release.

Drink more behind
the neo-gothic irony
watching over us all,
wait in repressed anticipation,
with the rest, dressed better than you
for the opening act
performing pagan rituals
amongst glitter and smoke.

Dance but retain composure.
Love their unknown anthems.
They'll be bigger than all of us one day
Said some guy in dead leather,
putting out his rolled cigarette in a flowerpot.
Apparently their dream pop is revolutionary
and their vinyl is $20 at the door.

Jordan Hamel (he/him/his) is a Pōneke-based poet and performer. He grew up in the south on a diet of Catholicism and masculine emotional repression. He is the 2018 New Zealand Poetry Slam Champion and has performed at festivals across Aotearoa. He has work published or forthcoming in Mimicry, Sweet Mammalian, Blackmail Press, Salty, Solid Air ( University of Queensland Press), The Speculative Book 2019 (United Kingdom), Kissing Dynamite (USA) and elsewhere.