He Waiata Mo Te Moe Punarua

Te Ao Hou, March 1961, Page 36

He Waiata Mo Te Moe Punarua

E roto i ahau e whanawhana noa ra; Te mokai puku nei nana rawa i tekateka, Roha noa i te hiwi ki Wharerewa ra ia. He haonga no roto ki tona tane ra ia— O nga raro ra e ko taua anake. He mea te ngakau ka puia me he ao. Ke maanu i ahau he rimu kai te awa. He atua te tane whakaako i te itinga, He turaki he wawae i a maua nei. He pito kaingakau naku ki a koe. Kei te rurenga mai ko ia tonu tena. Katahi nei te hore o te hanga punarua; Ko ana tanguru mai ki tona tokatoranga, Ko te whiti, ko te wara ka tae mai ki ahau Auaka, e Mare, a kohuraia mai, Nau te waka nei te whakahau ki te awa. Ka hiko taku manako ki te hori ki waho ra, Kia whakatomokia te hahanga kikino nei. Ko au ka uhupoho ki oku moenga, E kimia mai nei e te tane atua, Ngaru ana ra te taringa whakaronga, e! Within me, thrusting endlessly Against the belly that betrayed me— Swollen now like Wharewera Hill— There's a little thing that would see If you are his father still. Let the wind blow, let the river flow, Am I cloud or water-weed, to go where they go? You were a God and I but a child, Now having used me, you cast me aside, This little thing I gave, you deride, Am I worthless, thus to be denied? O the misery of the two-wived beast, For me, a famine, for him, a feast; And I, the host, was least While he, the guest, complained the most. But when you turned from me I burned the more fiercely— O Mare, do not tease me— This is your canoe, you set it on the sea; I long to go to you, and yet There are better men who seek my bed. I will be more careful who comes in your stead, Ears flap, but nothing will be said.