Rākaihautū 

thinks about driving to Waihao 
to fetch some uku
to make a koauau. 
It’s at Waihao Box
where you said the local boaties
couldn’t stand walking 
around your group of mana whenua
collecting uku for taonga pūoro.
I want to play taonga pūoro
like you. It’ll improve my poetry
readings where I need to lean
against the fourth wall to be heard.

 
It ain’t easy. I still can’t
click my fingers properly
let alone make a clay flute
in my head. It’s the idea
that some non-Māori boaties
are out there waiting
to troll me for holding up
their kayak adventure 
when this billy goat
wants a koauau journey
for healing. Āuē. I’m still 
in my dressing gown. 
If only Tangaroa
would be my valet.
Tomorrow it’s 
Mutuwhenua.
I don’t even know
the tides.

Robert Sullivan

Robert Sullivan belongs to the Ngāpuhi and Kāi Tahu iwi. He has won awards for his editing, poetry, and writing for children. Tunui Comet is his eighth collection of poetry. Robert’s an Associate Professor of Creative Writing at Massey University. He is a great fan of all kinds of decolonisation.