Powhiri - Jacq Carter

Powhiri - Jacq Carter

My sadness is
I have never known
a kuia fold me
in her arms

My sadness is
that what I know
was not told me
by my kaumatua

My sadness is
that I don't have the reo
that what I feel
can't be fully told

but I hear the call of my tupuna
the strongest karanga I know

I bow my head
with respect for them
and from them I draw strength
they walk with me
as I take my first steps
towards all that is theirs

ka tangi te titi
ka tangi te kaka
ka tangi hoki ahau
Tihei mauri ora!

ki nga mate kua haere ki te po
ka tangihia e ahau i tenei wa

haere, haere, haere atu ra




(2007). D. O'Meara (Ed.), Voices of the Pacific: A poetry resource Auckland: Pearson Education.

In Transit - Kapka Kassabova

In Transit - Kapka Kassabova

There is a field of frozen mud
and in the middle - a border.
On this side of the border
a pear tree that doesn't bear fruit.
Under the tree an old man
in a borrowed jacket
with a plastic bag,
sitting or kneeling
against the trunk.
The mud has embraced his movements.
The others have gone on with their children.

The border is ten steps away.



(2007). D. O'Meara (Ed.), Voices of the Pacific: A poetry resource Auckland: Pearson Education.