Te Reinga

The winds blew this day
From the northern skies hell bent
(Ki Raro, the old people would say)
A harbinger of inclement weather
Well known, as the furies of Tawhirimatea
released, unabated, unrepentant.

The maunga Pae Rehua stood naked
Head exposed, nay, scalped let it be known
Was by Ranginui's tears drenched,
Kehua of ghostly shroud
Sleet sheets across the hills
To Kohuruanaki range.

Te Rerenga o Nga Wairua
As if by an unknown hand
Exposed briefly the hutukawa tree
Ecstatic branches wave undaunted, indignat,
Roots clinging to the rock, as if so 'cemented'.

The whirling clouds moved in mistfully
Descending, cloaking all, from those here present
The waharoa, extension of the wharepaku
Through Tuki's ancient map despoiled,
Gazed out on a canvas gessoed white,
Lighthouse too brushed out clean.

The incantation intones
A house in priestly robes
Embellished with crescent moon, a star
Timeless symbols of the night
Knows not the time to pray
The twilight of the day
When the wairua hold sway
The clouds remained, the winds unchanged.

The ribbon, cut as some pagan practice,
Flutters aimlessy in the breeze,
blue to the ground.
As the kotuku bird without its feathers
But the Ngati Kuri tuturu
Know only too well the kirehe that bark
The kuri ever silent, sense the wairua presence
Whose signs from Hawaiki
To them were all too clear.
This day they stayed away.

For those who spoke with split tongue
Can never walk their talk
Who say this land's in doubt
Know not the ara wairua
For it resides not with them.

Hawaiki imposed its will at last
In the cloud, winds, and rain
All souls departed to Te Hapua
Te Reo Mihi Marae, to shelter
To feast on the jingle of apples
Of the false god DOC
For the glitter lies here.

Written by ©2009 Dr BC Gregory.
Published in Northland Age 24, April 2009.

PS. Te Rerenga Wairua was never closed, so why the opening?

Te Marae Atea Wairua - Te Maunga Pae Rehua

Ka tumai ki runga ra
Te Marae atea Wairua
Te Maunga Pae Rehua
Ka hurihia oku kanohi
Ki Te RangI Tuhaha
Karanga atu au
Ki Te Ao Marama
Te atatu e hora ra
I runga i te tai pari ra
Ka tangi taku ngakau
Te mamae roto ra
Nga roimata i patere atu ra
Maringi mai ki te tai Rehua
Te hononga o Te Tai tamawahine
Me Te Tai tamatane
I rere atu raro ra
Tae atu ki Manawatawhi whenua
ka patai Tawhirimatea ki te ao
Kei whea nga toa o nehera
I noho i te iwi kaitiaki
Te Marae atea Wairua
Kei konei o nga Tama toa
Tatari mai i te tangi
O te putatara pupu ana ra
Ka hoki mai te reo irirangi
O te purerehua
Awhiowhio kei runga ra
Kei konei o nga Wahine toa
Whagaetia te wai u
O nga tupuna
Ki nga tama toa iti noa
Whawhai tonu ratou
Mo o tatou wairuatanga
Kei runga te marae atea wairua
Te maunga Pae Rehua

Written by ©2007 Dr BC Gregory.
29th, September 2007.

Te Maunga Pae Rehua - Te Pou Wairua

The dawn arrived suspiciously

Light dispelling the night to life

For this turning of the first sod

Where "Nga Uri" stood firm their ground

The lead kaumatua did not transgress

When served his trespass notice

The atmosphere strangely quiet

He walked away.

The pou wairua arrived

Carried with dignity to the site

Probitiatory karakia incantates

The first sod of soil turned fresh
"Nga Uri" the holes dug deep

"Te wairua hono ki te tupapaku"

Placed pointing to Te Rangi

Face directed to Papa whenua

Te Wairua to Hawaiiki Blessed

Beyond the lone pohutukawa.

The greenstone taonga

"Nga Roimata tangi o Kiwa"

Placed at Te Pou Wairua' feet

Completed the union with grace

Anchor to Te Waka, Maui and the fish

Te Mauri had been set

On maunga Pae Rehua

Te Marae Atea Wairua

Consummated inviolate.

"Nga Uri o Nga Hapu"

The insignificant fear, the brace,

Stood proud for Ngati Kuri, Te Iwi Maori

This is no burial place for the dead

No unholy site to insult

With cars, buses, wharepaku

This is a holy place of pilgrimage

Carrying with it no bad thoughts or deeds.

(To be continued)

Written by ©2007 Dr BC Gregory.

25, September 2007.

Wairua Journey

The Wairua flows free
Before the putresence of the dead
Departing Urupa of all the land
On feet so light they float
Kehua prints by feelings seen
Joining the Ara Wairua
Passing by Te Oneroa a Tohe
heard in the murmur of the sea breezes
Above the bubbling gossip
Of tumbling waves.

Glimpsed as misty forms
Outlined white contoured transparencies
Oft times stange feeling within
Moving along at a pace
That glides free like thoughts unseen
Distance where here is there
And everywhere nowhere.

Reaching Haumi hill to pause
Where the wreath twisted grasses
Form still on this barren place
To look back wistfully
At an Earth -bound world -
Crowded nearby by ignorant beings
Obstructs the tranquility of leaving -
The Wairua bids farewell.

Climbing down to the Aka vine
Root to the lone pohutukawa tree
On the rocky outcrop below
(Claimed to ever be in bloom)
Before their final release
Through the hole in the rock
To the opening Tatau Pounamu
And relams beyond the ocean's tears
Rarohenga, way to Hawaiiki

Written by ©2007 Dr BC Gregory.
13, September 2007