109. Serving up the Tree of Life

In my hotel room in downtown Auckland
I fall sleep looking up at the stars
and within moments I'm standing on air
with 7 old wise men, very regal, quite near

They stand in a V shape wearing beautiful robes
akin to our velvet in dark blues, reds and greens
but around their own temples I see ancient symbols
on old, ancient faces you'd see on great halls

The 2 in the center now conjure together
creating a tree made of silver and gold
and soon it starts spinning away from them all
and moves towards me like a slow spinning ball

I'd heard about trees in the Garden of Eden
the Tree of Knowledge and the Tree of Life
but as this one here is coming towards me
I wonder why I'm filled, with such panic and strife?

108. Visitors from afar

Late in the night and around my own bed
footsteps are heard and shadows are seen
But neither malevolent or danger is felt
as I slumber deeply while trying to wake

And into a dream I find myself fall
until I am sitting upright in my bed
where I turn and I see outside my window
an Alien space ship surrounded by fog

Having no fear cept pangs of excitement
I step from my bed and out onto the carpet
but all around me the scenery changes
where a tent is constructed around my own bed

A reality as low and as dense such as ours
prohibits our visitors from moving with ease
So standing together, outside space, outside time
we can meet, we can heal, until our hearts climb

107. Women of Potaka

In Te Pai o Nga Pakanga I wake up in a dream
and see scores of young people crowding around me
Laughing and playing and singing out loud
are the mauri of those who renovated this house

Deep in the wall a large doorway opens
inviting me out and into the night
and as I step through it night changes to day
where three Mareikura are smiling at me

I'm given protection, a great orange python
adorning my head as I kiss all the women
and there I am shown old gardens and plots
belonging to families who lived long ago

But a much deeper lesson is conveyed to me
of a time when great magic was seen on this land
They ask to remind all the ones that they love
of the place of their tupuna whaea of old

* Te Pai o Nga Pakanga (Marae, Potaka, Gisborne)
* Mareikura (Goddess)
* Tupuna Whaea (Grandmothers)

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

105. The Aristocratic Salamander

Deep in a dimly lit hall does she stand
noble and regal, smiling at me
A beautiful salamander adorned in a robe
with blazen red eyes and red fingernails

She beckons to me like one of her young
to come take my place alongside her throne
and teaches me all that she has to impart
helping me, guiding me, like one of her own

Vision and balance and opening awareness
are a few of the things which come to bare
Growth and transition while maintaining emotion
help me to manage myself with great care

But all the while she stands and she smiles
gracing me with unconditional love
And as I leave her dimly lit hall
I wake with a beautiful sense of renewal...

104. Beacon of Night

Walking along a sealed country road
and further ahead to Miringa Te Kakara
two plumes of smoke come down from the sky
touching the ground where the old whare stood

I sense a third plume is missing from view
and immediately see it form in the sky
I lift up my hand and attract it's attention
where it flies at me quickly hitting the ground

It forms a straight pathway of which I must follow
leading me now to a stream running by
and in it I step and cleanse myself well
before I step onto old hallowed ground

I stand at the entrance of the old, sacred school
performing my kaupare as I slowly move
my breath comes in gasps and my stomach now fills
so I stop and I wait till the energy changes

Around the foundations I now slowly walk
observing its layout and what it all meant
pinpointing axis from pous now long gone
and stones made of limestone like Solomon's Temple

I sit in the East facing out to the West
seeing the Sun rapidly set
but before it descends right out of sight
a second one rises beyond our own night

I'm called to the West and sit by it's pou
closing my eyes as the Light starts to dim
and beside me I hear and feel people moving
invoking emotions and tears from inside me

Well high above me stars now appear
naturally moving, from right then to left
but curiously there is one that is travelling
from north, then to east, then onto the South?!

Elemental beings of the Sky start to notice
the presence of others at one of their shrines
It heralds in, another great step
reforging relations with the divine...


*Miringa Te Kakara (Star House/Temple)
*Whare (House)
*Kaupare (Prayer)
*Pou (Carved post)

103. New Tenants

I walk into a house that is spotless and clean
no pictures or furnishings or anything at all
just carpeted, warm and seeking new tenants
who'll make it a beautiful home it might seem

I peer through the window out into the night
where everything's black like I'm in outter space
I rush out the door where I'm met by 3 kuia
brandishing buckets and mops in my face

'What do you do here, what do you want?'
asking me loudly with a tumultuous tone
It's then that I realise this house is my body
a vessel all ready for new people to own

I turn outwards and look into the dark
and see scores of others now making their way
towards my clean body, towards my clean house
sharing their gifts with my hands and my mouth

* kuia (elderly women)