106. The Ark of the Convenant

I find myself sitting by the Ark of the Covenant
mahogany wood gilded with golden leaf
I study the poles running along its top side
and seeing the lid is partially open

Tired and exhausted and slumped very near
a young Hawaiian looks over at me
On his head does he wear a head band of tii
as well as a lei and grass skirt of the same

A man I once knew stands over us both
where words now emerge from his own mouth
They're Catholic, then Protestant, and Church of England
till to my own ears do Pai Marire fall

"You know this prayer" the old fulla says
so Te Kaapo and I now pray together
We lighten the burden carried so long
bringing God's message back to the World

57. Powers of the Night

I leap from my bed and see hundres of moths
who flutter and fall all about my own room
They land on my head, my shoulders and arms
all shades of white and all shades of blue

They cannot stay here I think to myself
and reach for the light switch to bring about dark
They follow the light of the bright shining moon
and make for the window and out into the night

On leaving - the sun, now shines in the room
and choruses of singing is heard from outside
Where there were hundreds of moths I now see
kaumātua or elders singing to me

They sing of the moon and sing of the stars
of songs which delighted me when I was a boy
and a grey haired old man strums a guitar
belting out words amidst smiles and roars

The words of the song perplex me a little
as I hear of a dialect void of an 'f'
and beside me my grand aunt steps into the light
and we watch all our kin of the Pai Mārire faith

Guiding me slowly with love and with light
my elders now sing of the powers of night
They sing of the moon and sing of the stars
and sing, as my tears, fall across my own heart....