There is attune, and it plays whether or not you are listening.
Deep in autumn’s heart,
A certain silence is presented.
It is a condensing,
Where you can hear the happening of all change.
The quilt is laid,
And it is like a beat, a breath
Of settle and still.
Sitting thickly.
The handshakes of soil’s turn
Are in motion,
And their gliding skin, so close.
Will you see the webs stretching through the grasses?
Oh, what it is to listen!
Oh, what it is to listen!
Oh, what it is to listen!
Nannie
wāhine mā,
come!
let us link arms and walk forward.
bring forth tears to your eyes, a smile to your mouth, and a laugh.
laugh as we remember the ones who loved us fiercely.
it is time to be nannie’s hands, māmā’s arms, and pēpi’s heart, again.
speak loudly and be heard!
say what you mean!
love with abandon.
love like your life depends on it!
rip your heart open wide,
wāhine mā!
we are the whare tīpuna,
the eyes of the kahu and the heart of the world.
we are the voice on the wind,
the caress in the mist,
the pounamu and the river in which she was formed!
wāhine mā!
we must come through the cave,
yet know its depths.
we must become the fire
and fan the flames.
we must come to know death as old friends,
just as we know birth.
we are so big in our boundlessness,
wāhine mā,
all here together,
no arm unlinked.
come!
let us walk forward.
Featured photos from the photo series Marriage to Self, supplied.
Marriage to Self is a commitment to the whare tangata, the īkura, and the wāhine. It is a blessing for the kotiro, an ode to the māmā, and an honouring for/of and lament from the kuia.
