A Song for the Māori People
What sun have you come from, my brothers?

“From beyond death, we’ve come to you.”

What path have you taken

to bring us water, bread, and words?

“We’ve come from the life your people are forging.”

Who are you, sons of the Māori, my brothers?

“We too are from the shores of Gaza,

and from Mount Carmel,

and we too own a share

of the bloodred sunset above Jerusalem’s hills.”
What sun have you come from, my brothers?

I asked them this,

though I knew deep down,

as I saw them coming on threads of dawn,

that they were the sons of the Māori.
***
They said to me:

We believe in your land’s messiah,

the one who was crucified

on your land,

and who, today,

is still being crucified

on your land.

We don’t confuse his mournful voice

—which leads to joy—

with the lies of the evangelists.

And if his voice is mournful now, it’s because

evangelists made it their own

and stole your land.
***
What sun have you come from?

What sun’s heart have you come from, my brothers?

And what sun will fail to bow down, now,

as you take us with you

on lofty paths

to the land of the Māori people?