#aotearoa - Hello Poetry

Flax blades Howling birds The tears of strangled mountains Flip a coin The land of the long white cloud A sun so bright The shadows are buried 7 feet below Alongside those whose eyes Were convinced The coin only flipped one side

0

Sep 4, 2019

Sep 4, 2019 at 5:53 PM UTC

nikitam

Kiwi killer

Flax blades Howling birds The tears of strangled mountains Flip a coin The land of the long white cloud A sun so bright The shadows are buried 7 feet below Alongside those whose eyes Were convinced The coin only flipped one side

11

I dance to the rhythm Of internal knowing Soles embedded Womb centered Sky darkens to starlight And I begin to sense The recipe of her magic

0

Feb 6, 2019

Feb 6, 2019 at 3:39 AM UTC

Nikkijayne

Child of the earth

I dance to the rhythm Of internal knowing Soles embedded Womb centered Sky darkens to starlight And I begin to sense The recipe of her magic

7

A velvet topography, Of ridges and furrows, Undulations of light and shade, A land born of upheaval, And tectonic collisions, With a fault line for a spine.

0

Jan 31, 2019

Jan 31, 2019 at 8:01 PM UTC

annh

CHC To DUD: From 16,000 Feet

A velvet topography, Of ridges and furrows, Undulations of light and shade, A land born of upheaval, And tectonic collisions, With a fault line for a spine.

6

I have a right to stand I'm claiming it now. Turangawaewae; 'a place to stand' Is a deep empowerment from the land Learnt through ancestral connection Strengthened through ahi ka; 'keeping the fires burning' Well, my ancestral stories ain't so impressive There were few battles Though my granddad worked for the air force in world war two - As an accountant We didn't encounter the gods or try to bring down the sun Though when my Grandma arrived here she built up the soil Soul of the Earth For 70 years As the city sprang up around her And my mother aged 11 played follow the leader with a goat in the next door construction site Where her house is now My uncle found an old mans false teeth in a cup Climbing through an abandoned house My aunt visited James K Baxter's Jerusalem She wasn't a fan of his poetry But his wisdom spoke to her My other aunts jumped through the neighbours trees Who threatened to shoot them My father followed my mother here After her O.E with my sister in the oven He ******* about John Key as much as anyone And praises this land; it is home. I stood on a windy cliff surrounded by pohutukawa and learnt the whisper of the sea Roughing it on an island I tried determinedly to turn into a pukeko I got my first cut, bruise, scrape from this land My first breath, poem, touch of a violin, my first kiss was here I know the rough patches, the fringe scene, where the best soil is (It's at my grams house) I know how to spot a drug house, which cafes will let us jam, where the open mics are 5 days of the week. I know Kirikiriroa. My fires have been burning And I have a right to stand I have learnt through my own evolution Through Janet Frame's railroad country Through a history Cities growing and spreading They weren't just here As it has always seemed to me. The countryside, what was here before? Landscapes of forest and mountain Familiar yet unknown to me. When I go away I will know the difference When I return I will know this land The depth recognized through contrast Defined by difference As the sun and moon complement Light and dark Sorrow and joy And, As in yin and yang I will know nothing is completely separate. When I go away I will know So fully And I will return and say: This is my place to stand My turangawaewae My Aotearoa

0

Nov 16, 2014

Nov 16, 2014 at 7:24 PM UTC

TuesdayPixie

Turangawaewae

I have a right to stand I'm claiming it now. Turangawaewae; 'a place to stand' Is a deep empowerment from the land Learnt through ancestral connection Strengthened through ahi ka; 'keeping the fires burning' Well, my ancestral stories ain't so impressive There were few battles Though my granddad worked for the air force in world war two - As an accountant We didn't encounter the gods or try to bring down the sun Though when my Grandma arrived here she built up the soil Soul of the Earth For 70 years As the city sprang up around her And my mother aged 11 played follow the leader with a goat in the next door construction site Where her house is now My uncle found an old mans false teeth in a cup Climbing through an abandoned house My aunt visited James K Baxter's Jerusalem She wasn't a fan of his poetry But his wisdom spoke to her My other aunts jumped through the neighbours trees Who threatened to shoot them My father followed my mother here After her O.E with my sister in the oven He ******* about John Key as much as anyone And praises this land; it is home. I stood on a windy cliff surrounded by pohutukawa and learnt the whisper of the sea Roughing it on an island I tried determinedly to turn into a pukeko I got my first cut, bruise, scrape from this land My first breath, poem, touch of a violin, my first kiss was here I know the rough patches, the fringe scene, where the best soil is (It's at my grams house) I know how to spot a drug house, which cafes will let us jam, where the open mics are 5 days of the week. I know Kirikiriroa. My fires have been burning And I have a right to stand I have learnt through my own evolution Through Janet Frame's railroad country Through a history Cities growing and spreading They weren't just here As it has always seemed to me. The countryside, what was here before? Landscapes of forest and mountain Familiar yet unknown to me. When I go away I will know the difference When I return I will know this land The depth recognized through contrast Defined by difference As the sun and moon complement Light and dark Sorrow and joy And, As in yin and yang I will know nothing is completely separate. When I go away I will know So fully And I will return and say: This is my place to stand My turangawaewae My Aotearoa

63