HE KORERO AROHA MO ERANA TAREI

Tu Tangata, Issue 27, 1 December 1985, Page 30

HE KORERO AROHA MO ERANA TAREI

(nee Ellen Ngakoti, Waiomio) LAMENT FOR AN OLD WAIOMIO FRIEND

E Hine, Kua tae mai matou To iwi, I karangatia e koe Ahakoa tawhiti te haerenga mai Ki konei ia koe nei Kua heke mai to tira Ma runga i te whanautanga, Ma runga i te pouritanga, Ma runga i te mokemoketanga, Ma runga i te maharatanga, mete aroha, Ki te rapu ia koe Ki te whakamahana ia koe Ki te mihi ki ia koe Ki te whakamana ia koe mete tangi. He tangi nganga, e Hine, He auetanga hotuhotu, He mamaetanga mo te riro He puawai no Ngati Hine kia takoto ki runga i Te marae o Paparamu, Kia ngaro ki roto i Te Kainga Oneone o Tirau. Ahakoa pouri te ngakau, e Hine, Ahakoa maringi nga roimata, He rangimarie taku titiro, He rangimarie taku titiro Ki to takotoranga ataahua, Kei waenganui ia Raukawa. He aroha no te iwi Mo au mahi atawhai ia tatou. Kua tutaki ki to whanau, Kua hari i te mohio E kore koe e ngaro. No reira, Takoto mai e Hine, Takoto mai i to moenga roa.

Poroporaki

I didn’t even say goodbye. When you last passed passed this way, ’Twas just by luck I chanced to hear, You were here yesterday. You came to bid me fond adieu, You waited, but in vain, Your message didn’t reach me Now, my heart is filled with pain. Dear old friend of my childhood, Didn’t the people know? The last we saw of each other, Was, that day a long time ago When we said goodbye to our girlhood, Put aside our childish dreams, The whispers and the secrets, The fun, and girlish screams. The world had beckoned to us both It's call was loud and strong We donned our grownup finery And together, we were swept along. You entered your own field of work, I too, entered mine, Although we were, now world's apart, Our lives continued, just fine. Then came the news, a mite too late, That you were passing through, I wish, I wish, they’d remembered me, For I wanted to farewell you too. The winds now bewail your passing, They mourn so dismally, The valley that once nurtured you, Pines for your company. The hills still echo you laughter, The rocks look down in woe, Witness to the girlish pranks We indulged in long ago. The old oak tree we kept alive, With our noisy, yells of glee,

Now nods and whispers to itself, And shares its loneliness with me. The pear tree that we used to rob, Now gnarled, and old, and grey, If it could only talk indeed, It would have a lot to say. Just memories now, my dear old friend, Of life that went before, Fond memories though, for me to keep. Of you, forevermore.