Greenstone Axe Poem by Kaila George

He stood upon the pa
Looking down upon his tribe

Greenstone axe in hand
His tribal moko on his face and arms

He swung the pendulum
Whizzing in the air

Its eerie sound of battle cry
Echoing across the land

The villages they stopped
In their daily chores of life

And scattered in a hurry
To prepare for the serge of impending death
From a neighboring tribe of war

Women and children ran
As quickly as they could
To find the shelter needed
From the battle cries of death

Then warriors all lining up
To challenge the Haka chant

"Ka mau"! Is resonate as he cries out the challenge
And in union they chant as the
Battle cries is heard across the land

With their spears and battle axes
Swinging in the midday sun
Their eyes bulging and tongues swaggering

As they send shivers of fear down the spines
Of their enemies awaiting to return the challenge

After each tribe sends out their challenge
There is quite as if death is walking amongst the crowd

The he shouts in one breath and joins his warriors
As they step forth to protect their land

Even in the days of old before the explorers came
They were fighting for the rights of their land

© Copyright Kaila George 2012