Dawn light catches steam mist
rising through tree and bush, floating
over front lawns, vacant lots.We wait for the ski rental place to open.
The korimako and tui make morning song.
By sailing ship, by footTe Mānihera, you journeyed far
before strangers placed your bones
in this church yardunder an engraved marble slab —
‘martyred in the service of Christ’.
Walking in your black suitburning with the Holy Spirit
Kereopa at your side,
you stopped at every village, Taupōto Turangi, reciting the Beatitudes,
keeping faith, heavy of heart, fearing death.
On Route 41, cars and trucks whooshup to Taumarunui, the Western Bay.
Year to year I’ve shot through here
not knowing the sins of this land.A stagecoach appears. You step out,
teeth missing,
dried blood on your face.We hongi, share breath.
You smell of forest, warm earth.
I feel the bones in your suit jacket.When they axed you down,
nothing was resolved.
But, in time, ways of thinking changed.On this crisp morning, ancestors stand
with us, life and death embrace.
We scoff meat pies, slurp coffee.These journeys and leaps
of faith, of language, of world view
take us further than ships can sailfaster than cars flash
down the Desert Road.
Beyond the red roofand cream walls of this wooden church,
Mount Pihanga rises, cloaked in green.
The moment fills with peace.Te Mānihera, you believed in miracles,
saw what’s precious.
Holding you in mindI see differently
Tokaanu, these roads,
a day skiing Whakapapa.
* Te Mānihera, a Māori Christian missionary, and a would-be peacemaker, was a chief of the Maruwharanui tribe
of Taranaki in 19th century Aotearoa New Zealand. In his final journey, Te Mānihera, accompanied by Kereopa, went
to make peace with the Tuwharetoa tribe of southern Lake Taupō. But the Tuwharetoa leaders wanted vengeance for
deaths of their people in Taranaki. On entering Turangi on 12th March 1847, Te Mānihera and Kereopa were ambushed.
Kereopa died instantly from a musket wound; a wound to Te Mānihera was non-fatal. Surrounded by those who would
shortly kill him with an axe, Te Mānihera sang his own death song (or waiata poroporoaki). Moved by the song, the
Tuwharetoa chief requested Te Mānihera sing it again so they could memorise it before finishing him off. Weeks after
the killings, the people of Tuwharetoa felt remorse, converted to Christianity, and established a teaching program
that evolved into a Christian summer camp near Tokaanu. The summer camp program survived more than a
hundred years.
- 115: SPACE
with A Sometimes
114: NO THEME 13
with J Toledo & C Tse
113: INVISIBLE WALLS
with A Walker & D Disney
112: TREAT
with T Dearborn
111: BABY
with S Deo & L Ferney
110: POP!
with Z Frost & B Jessen
109: NO THEME 12
with C Maling & N Rhook
108: DEDICATION
with L Patterson & L Garcia-Dolnik
107: LIMINAL
with B Li
106: OPEN
with C Lowe & J Langdon
105: NO THEME 11
with E Grills & E Stewart
104: KIN
with E Shiosaki
103: AMBLE
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102: GAME
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101: NO THEME 10
with J Kinsella and J Leanne
100: BROWNFACE
with W S Dunn
99: SINGAPORE
with J Ip and A Pang
97 & 98: PROPAGANDA
with M Breeze and S Groth
96: NO THEME IX
with M Gill and J Thayil
95: EARTH
with M Takolander
94: BAYT
with Z Hashem Beck
93: PEACH
with L Van, G Mouratidis, L Toong
92: NO THEME VIII
with C Gaskin
91: MONSTER
with N Curnow
90: AFRICAN DIASPORA
with S Umar
89: DOMESTIC
with N Harkin
88: TRANSQUEER
with S Barnes and Q Eades
87: DIFFICULT
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86: NO THEME VII
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85: PHILIPPINES
with Mookie L and S Lua
84: SUBURBIA
with L Brown and N O'Reilly
83: MATHEMATICS
with F Hile
82: LAND
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81: NEW CARIBBEAN
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80: NO THEME VI
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57.1: EKPHRASTIC
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57: CONFESSION
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56: EXPLODE
with D Disney
55.1: DALIT / INDIGENOUS
with M Chakraborty and K MacCarter
55: FUTURE MACHINES
with Bella Li
54: NO THEME V
with F Wright and O Sakr
53.0: THE END
with P Brown
52.0: TOIL
with C Jenkins
51.1: UMAMI
with L Davies and Lifted Brow
51.0: TRANSTASMAN
with B Cassidy
50.0: NO THEME IV
with J Tranter
49.1: A BRITISH / IRISH
with M Hall and S Seita
49.0: OBSOLETE
with T Ryan
48.1: CANADA
with K MacCarter and S Rhodes
48.0: CONSTRAINT
with C Wakeling
47.0: COLLABORATION
with L Armand and H Lambert
46.1: MELBOURNE
with M Farrell
46.0: NO THEME III
with F Plunkett
45.0: SILENCE
with J Owen
44.0: GONDWANALAND
with D Motion
43.1: PUMPKIN
with K MacCarter
43.0: MASQUE
with A Vickery
42.0: NO THEME II
with G Ryan
41.1: RATBAGGERY
with D Hose
41.0: TRANSPACIFIC
with J Rowe and M Nardone
40.1: INDONESIA
with K MacCarter
40.0: INTERLOCUTOR
with L Hart
39.1: GIBBERBIRD
with S Gory
39.0: JACKPOT!
with S Wagan Watson
38.0: SYDNEY
with A Lorange
37.1: NEBRASKA
with S Whalen
37.0: NO THEME!
with A Wearne
36.0: ELECTRONICA
with J Jones