A new poem by Wellington poet Anahera Gildea.
Separation anxiety
Healing comes with rhythm, dance
the folds of the land
it matters how you tell a story
that resists
breath is healing
exchange, recitation
a fusilade of calling
across the pae
for title extinguished
lost children,
a spittle of names
reunited by Te Kupenga
shoulders healed by Rangi
words flung as line
to rope the heavy lifting of sorrow
and winch their way to the stars
tight-fisted
faults and protest
not display for dark tourism
the healing is in the whenua
planted at the muscle of her belly
the abyss
under the rib cage, in the guts
drumming, thumping,
hīnātore in the eye
it takes work
to wrench hope from story
is to seek where the trees have fallen
the provision of space
kia puananī ai ngā kākano e te hau –
it is the feral and the ecstasy
that heals
the wildness of grief
He ruri tēnei mā matua Moana Jackson nā Anahera Gildea 2020
The Friday Poem is edited by Chris Tse. Submissions are currently closed and will open again in early 2021.