MAORI NEW YEAR - THE SEVEN SISTERS RISE ANEW
Our birth-folk
Sky and earth
Together and apart
Grief and yearning
Heaving and strain.
Their children
The woodlands
And the seas
The winds and waves
The food stores
War and stillness.
Though the young struggle
With storms and snares,
The dark and emptiness
Are overcome by light and growth
And the sky is clothed in stars.
Get ready for the westerly
Stand fast for the southerly
It will be icy white inland
And icy cold on the shore.
May the dawn rise
Red-tipped
On snow, on frost
The breath of life!
POWHIRI
At the island's edge
The warrior-waves
Swell and break
In unison
And the shore
Picks up the challenge.
Across the strait
Are distant mountains,
Arrayed like wise chiefs
Capped with heron feathers,
Snow-shone with white flame,
Welcoming us to the winter solstice.
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
A lovely well penned poem about the Maori New Year, Matariki. Thank you Keith.10+