Poem for Papatūānuku – Mother Earth

by Ngāti Hine/Ngāpuhi writer Nadine Anne Hura

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

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.

ROBERTA PYX SUTHERLAND

ROBERTA PYX SUTHERLAND