Wayfinders 7

 

"Whakarongo mai e tama. Kotahi tonu te hiringa
i kake ai Tane ki Tikitiki-o-rangi;
ko te hiringa i te mahara.
Ka kitea i reira ko Io-matua-te-kore anake.
I a ia te Toi-ariki, te Toi-uru-tapu,
te Toi-uru-rangi, te Toi-uru-roa;"

"Listen O son. There was only one power
that transported Tane to the Uppermost realm;
it was the spiritual power of the mind.
Nought seen there but Io-the-parentless.
Source of all authority, Source of all spiritual energy,
Source of all heavenly origin, Source of all creation."

- from He Oriori mo Tuteremoana

There I was, e tama, out there in cyberspace mindspace
surfing along the electronic tide of the great wide expanse
of the ocean Te Moana-nui-o-Te-Ipurangi, Internet to you,
and I came face to face with Io. Aue, woe is me.

'Twas Tane laid out the mindway to Tikitiki, uppermost realm,
Dwelling place of Io-nui, Io-roa, Io-matua, Io-matua-kore,
Io the Almighty, Io the Eternal, Io the Parent, Io the Parentless,
but I found Io on the Ipurangi way, e tama. Aue, woe is me.

Whakarongo mai e tama, listen carefully my son
At the website NASA, click on spacewaka Galileo.
There, with Thebe, Amalthea, Metis and Europa,
strange spacemoon gods circling the realm of Jupiter,
there lives Io, volcano godmoon. Aue. Woe is me.

Kia tupato koe, e tama, tread carefully my son
approach with reverence, lest ye anger my son,
the Great Io, Wide Io, Io the fiery, Io the angry one
Io-nui, Io-roa, Io-wera, Io-te-riri. Aue, woe is me.

Whakarongo mai e tama, listen carefully my son
and never forget, e tama, never forget this my son,
that wherever they go, these spacewaka travellers,
your tipuna ancestor, Tane, he was there before,
Aue, woe is me, e tama, he was there before.

© Ross Nepia Himona

poems