Te Reo
 Māori

(for Linda and Warahi Paki)

The year after I left school
like a spinning top

adrift from lessons,

I went back at night
to learn te reo
 Māori
because I wanted to hear
the word ‘table’ and speak
the word ‘ground’

in the language closest

to home,

and to make

my own way

south.

The year I went to university

I chose Italian

because I wanted to read

Se una notte d’inverno una viaggiatore
in Calvino’s words
and it didn’t feel right then
to speak the word ‘whenua’
in my Pākehā skin.

This year

when I have learnt how to plant
broccoli and savoy cabbages

a stone’s throw from the city,
I will go back at night

to learn te reo Māori

because I want to hear

the word ‘table’ and speak

the word ‘ground’

in the language
that is home.

Paula Green 2013
from The Baker’s Thumbprint, Seraph Press, 2013