91.Cord of White Light

Looking out of the window and to the horizon
I see a black ribbon move through the air
it begins to descend down onto my house
an essence of darkness, of sadness, of terror

Big screaming eyes and a gaping dark mouth
surrounded by smoke which pulses and plumes
now stands beside me shrieking and howling
and filling my heart with malevolent fear

But I take from my waist a cord of white light
and now bind the two of us tightly together
and no-longer see my kitchen or dining room
but a corridor filled with doorways of portals

For whatever reason this being was formed
it is not up to me to banish or kill it
So I take this great Sadness to its next destination
til we come to a door it looks longingly at

With taiaha in hand a warrior steps forward
so nothing else enters into our domain
and a wahine toa begins to karanga
as we step forward to open the door

This is the doorway to Hades itself
to the very own Whare of the Atua Whiro
where slowly but surely I take down the cord
and let this of our brethren, go to his own 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....

56. The Dark Arts

The crystal beside me glows
from the light of my bedside clock
Casting a blue hue across the duvet,
across the curtains and out across the room
In the deepness of sleep I see
it and hear choruses of people
all talking and singing, all laughing and crying

In my mind I hear the
toilet door unlock and then see it open
and standing over me is a
shimmering figure reaching forward
extinguishing the clock's light and
bathing us in darkness

I am not afraid as I have prepared
for this next stage of my life
and sit in my heart with love and with faith
no-longer ruled by imagined fears or
scenarios of my modern day mind

I sit upright in bed holding her to me
as she now re-appears in human form with long hair
She falls at my feet in love and humility
and I motion to join me atop of my bed

With respect she declines as her World is sacred
as well as the impact it could have on my life
But for now, we sit - in love and humility
enabling me, to see into the dark...

10. The cost of knowledge

The casket lay open with his small, frail and naked body
laid out showing his vulnerability in death
But, as I moved forward his eyes slowly opened
his arms unfurled and his long fingers reached for my ring

What did the dead require in return for knowledge?
The cost was life - was mauri, enabling him
to be strong and invincible once again

But in no way would I give human life or human mauri
What I gave was the mauri or essence of love, of aroha
Mauri I could grow and replenish over and over again

I walked past seeing a beautiful
black dog cut down in the street
I called out to her making her rise once again
Her protective mate standing over her
demanded to know what I wanted in return
Just knowledge - just knowledge

The darkness enveloped me and shadows
from the essence of the night itself
stood silently waiting for me to ask, and to pay a price
Beautiful creatures of cunning and deceit
also came revealing a score of men and women
now bound by a transaction made with the dark

It is now that I realise knowledge had a price
that the dead revealed truth
that animals communicated
and the darkness itself once gave answers
but all at a cost - all at a price

1. Hiringa i te mahara

I was witness to the daily life of tohunga
I was a star looking out over the African continent
And with my hands I took Luke Skywalker's light sabre
bringing it down apon an atom splitting it in two

From the recesses of my mind
and with fear in my heart
I called out into the darkness of the dawn
summoning the epitome of evil
With invisible amour it stood over me
shimmering in silence
and filling my world with utter fear and despair

The tohunga's words wrapped and enveloped me
then the water received me
My unconscious mind refused to dive
and while fighting myself
at my face did Tangaroa scratch and bite me

I was both shark and prey
thrashing and diving, thrusting forward and recoiling
Until I met my foe with wide eyes opened
and seeing nothing but a myriad of blue
and the calm and depth of Tangaroa's mind itself

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