Papatuanuku & the Kuaka
2023
This work is in response to a combination of the following two poems
Papatuanuku & Kuaka.
The On My Watch Exhibition was a beautiful and powerful collaboration of Poets and Artists.
PAPATUANUKU By Laura Mountjoy
As sunlight warms my body
you bring me to the surface
I seek you in cool granite
in the early morning air
and when
head heavy with thoughts
I forget you then my hand
slides into moist earth
& there you are again
adding shimmer to weeds
kikuyu ropes and capsicum
as crisp and engaging as a new novel
smooth as the explosion of fresh raspberry
slowly pressed between tongue and teeth
KUAKA by Julie Sargisson
I wasn’t there when your thousands
tens of thousands rose together
from a last foraging
on the rich dreaming
sand flats
I wasn’t there to see you lift
before the incoming tide
swooping painting the sky
a murmuration
of barred wings unicorn beaks
your cry ripping the shimmering blue
a summons the urge
to the Yellow Sea
Alaska the Arctic Circle
irresistible
I wasn’t there to say goodbye
when your last thousand
beating wings synchronised
with purpose as pressing
as ocean current trade winds
breeding dying
I wasn’t there yet
on these clear autumn days
I see you rising and rising
filling the sky