Something that I was trying achieve with this poem, was that blur that feeling of looking back at a memory that you can’t quite realise. There are a whole host of stories present in this poem, ones that don’t necessarily fit together, from the origin of the kuumara to the arrival of Tainui waka in Aotearoa (my ancestral waka), to the voyage of Paikea. This interacts with my blurry sense of self when it comes to te Ao Maaori, I come from a blur. I tried to create a sense of curling waves in the soundscape of this piece, how words move from one to the other with clear echoes, for example ‘wake’ and ‘waka’. There is also this continuing conflict between Christianity and to Ao Māori. It is also the first time Hine-nui-te-pō is mentioned in the book.
Favourite line: (did it come after Māui’s attempt at slaying death?)
I like things in parentheses, and this twisted way of looking at how the comparison between how Maui and Jesus treat death (it is different!)
Where I was: I think I wrote this in 2016 one version of it anyway? The original was longer and ended up going back to the story of Papatūānuku ‘flesh-pressed dark to flesh-pressed dark’ is a line I still want to use in something.
Recommendation: This stunning poem by Dinah Moengarangi Rawiri-Steele about the arrival of Tainui. Which is also about everything else as well.
essa may ranapiri 