I once saw a Maori woman standing in the rain,
She watched me as i walked by
And smiled a little in her silence.
She has stayed with me since that day,
Follows me still
Smiling and silent
Moko carved on her chin
And greenstone hanging round her neck
Perfectly smooth
as i imagine her skin once was.
She wears a cloak on her back,
Decorated with the feathers
of slow and flightless birds,
It has no hood to protect from weather
The rain freckles her face.
She is worried,
Constantly worried,
Yet she never spoke a word,
Until one day at the beach
I lifted a shell to my ear
And from within her voice spoke to me
Saying
You do not own nature,
the Earth owns you.
She smiled and walked away.