I don't often share just a single poem of someone elses, with not much else to say. But today I've been really down. I guess we're going to feel through some intense emotions as this virus rolls through our worlds. This poem really made me tear up today - it's a fine balance between joy and sadness, anxiety and calm. Warning - it might make you cry a little. Or get that funny feeling inside....
A poem to Papatūānuku (Mother Earth)
Rest now, e Papatūānuku
Breathe easy and settle
Right here where you are
We’ll not move upon you
For awhile
We’ll stop, we’ll cease
We’ll slow down and stay home
Draw each other close and be kind
Kinder than we’ve ever been.
I wish we could say we were doing it for you
as much as ourselves
But hei aha
We’re doing it anyway
It’s right. It’s time.
Time to return
Time to remember
Time to listen and forgive
Time to withhold judgment
Time to cry
Time to think
About others
Remove our shoes
Press hands to soil
Sift grains between fingers
:leaves: Gentle palms
Time to plant
Time to wait
Time to notice
To whom we belong
For now it’s just you
And the wind
And the forests and the oceans and the sky full of rain
Finally, it’s raining!
Ka turuturu te wai kamo o Rangi ki runga i a koe
Embrace it
This sacrifice of solitude we have carved out for you
He iti noaiho - a small offering
People always said it wasn’t possible
To ground flights and stay home and stop our habits of consumption
But it was
It always was.
We were just afraid of how much it was going to hurt
and it IS hurting and it will hurt and continue to hurt
But not as much as you have been hurt.
So be still now
Wrap your hills around our absence
Loosen the concrete belt cinched tight at your waist
Rest.
Breathe.
Recover.
Heal -
And we will do the same.
A poem by Ngāti Hine/Ngāpuhi writer Nadine Anne Hura.
In searching for an image for this post, I also found a beautiful poem by Mary Oliver. I really must get some of her collections - everything I have read I have loved.
There's always a silver lining, no matter where you look. Even as we suffer, the earth heals. We gotta take a little solace from that, right? And if you are hurting, do message me. I'm always around to listen.
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