Aotearoa
 
 

Slipping beyond the realms of conversation
led by the wind into the void
from where such visions spring
Of childhood and fishing in Wainui Bay
habitat of Maori
Illustrious beings
whose understanding of these waters
electrified my young heart
Set alight that other thing that
would forever haunt me
follow me
Just an ache
triggered by certain conditions
Such as blue water
cuts and sand bars
the arrow dive of the fishing bird
the soft warm feel of the sand
on lazy summer days
the thrill of a whitebait shoal
the endless cry of the gull
We young hearts digging the beach
at the waters edge
and later in the night boiling in
tins the booty-  pippi.

Just an ache
that calls to this day
Forming in the wind a sentence
a broken verse
a clue
Seen by us all in that incandescent
moment of the shooting star
Felt in the chill of an early
season dip
Perhaps understood in the moments
of death

a glimpse
a connection with things.

Rapid Bay 1995