E TO E TE RAIWAHO O MOTU

Kaea, Issue 3, 1 June 1980, Page 19

E TO E TE RAIWAHO O MOTU

na Maaka Jones

E to e te ra i waho o Motu i te pae raro o Whakaari Pumau ana to heke ito heke raro e hika e e Kore rawa koe te tatari noa kite huringa muri e Engari maro ana to tu kite poroporoaki mai e Ki te Ao marama kite Ao tangata, kite Ao hurihuri Tiahoaho ana te murara mai o tou kanohi

Whakakoi ana ko i au hoari hei aha e e

Tera pea kei tua o te pae-raro o Whakaari tau e hiahia nei. Ahakoa a Ranginui i whakapekapeka i to huarahi ki nga taura kapua kore rawa koe mo te tomuri e.

Pohehe ana koe ka whai atu au e, i au mahi maminga! Aha! ha! Taotu ana i a koe te paeraro o Whakaari. Kakari mai ana korua riro atu ana koe ite paeraro. Totohe ana koe kite haere i tau haere a, toromi ana koe. Nanati ana te wheke a Tangaroa ito kakf Whakatahataha ana to haere, whakatakataka ana moata i muri tonu mai i to whakaahuatanga i a koe i runga i te kare o te wai o te Moana-nui-a-kiwa. Piata ana te moana i a koe, engari kua timata ke a Hine-ahiahi kite toha i tana huru. Kia hiwa ra! Kia hiwa ra!

Mokemoke ana te tu a Whakaari i waho o te moana. Ano he whenua mahue. Ko te kare anake o te ia o te moana e papaki kau ana i te akau e rongona atu ana.

Rere popoto noa, te rere a te kawau i runga i nga wai popokorua he kai ra ma taku noho puku e. Etoe te ra, E moe 6 te ra i tekau-ma-rua e. Hei to hokinga mai ka Ao, Ka Ao, ka awatea!

Maaka Jones belongs to Whanau-A-Apanui and Ngai Tahu. She lives in Wellington, where she works at the Correspondence School teaching Maori at all levels.

GO DOWN, O SUN, FROM THE MOTU RIVER

Go down, o sun, out from the Motu River And over the horizon at Whakaari Island Your going down, down to the underworld Is a journey we all make, my friend You cannot pause or turn from your path But move unflinching in sorrow and farewell To the world of light and men turning cold As the lights glint on your face

The sword-lights you sharpen for what?

Your desires are beyond Whakaari, out of reach, and though Ranginui tries to turn you with his hanging ropes of cloud, not even he can hold you back in your wild haste.

Don’t think to lure me with your tricks ahaha! You stab the watery body of Whakaari, both of you struggling together until you’re sucked down. You jumped wildly, not caring, and now you drown. Tangaroa’s octopus tightens around your throat, makes you slide down deep into the water, makes the empty shells of light flicker out in your ghost lying on Kiwa’s great sea. Now you make the ocean red with light but briefly, for the evening maid pulls her cloak around the world. Guard yourselves now, guard yourselves!

Whakaari island stands out at sea a lover abandoned. For now only the slap of the sea on the shore can be heard.

The lone shag skips from one pool to the next, and so do my silent thoughts. What food for thought you are, o sun, sinking, dying at the twelfth hour. Only when you come alive again will I see the light of another new day.