In order to heal
We do it together.
I let you thread the stitches into my skin
A perfect weave of earth and wind,
We bathe each other several times a week,
Then plant our antibiotics deep
And gently bandage our backs with dirt,
We wash our wounds, expel some hurt.
Apply antiseptic poetry readings
And research pre colonial bleedings,
Invite our moko to brave emergence,
Tautoko tikanga and reo resurgence,
Sit with the whenua, hear what it says,
Protect Ihumātao the rest of our days.
Listen to Koro, but do what is right,
It’s not the end yet so we still have to fight,
For the tamariki of ā tōna wā,
Connect with tīpuna, help structure the Pā,
The fires of the past and the present still burn,
Ahi kā, our ora, our mana, our turn.