Maunga mimi, our weeping maunga – at her feet i sleep and dream 

Of veins and arteries, manga and awa running beneath me, flowing out to Whangaroa

Her bones of mighty Puriri and Totara

with organs of rongoa, heart shaped in the form of kawakawa and lungs of kumarahou in bloom.

Of womb, warm, sacred and silent, burial caves hold DNA of those who were & those yet to be.

On her shoulders time collapses, on her shoulders only the present 

Maunga mimi, our weeping maunga, shrouds her face in mist and shields her eyes in shades of Tane. 

Genetic memories flow through her, flow through me.

Memories of love and loss, birth and death, destruction and creation.

Volcanic blue basalt, giant microchips of copper and quartz crown her head.

Maunga mimi, our weeping maunga she has memory and knows the truth.

Of mauri, streaming out in threads of gold, banked in her reserves for safe keeping.

Her wairua, seen only through the heart’s soulful eyes.

Ageless, timeless, moving, shifting.

Maunga mimi ceaselessly weeps from eyes that cannot unsee.

Who will remember you amongst the rising tide of strangers? 

I will remember you, we will remember you..

Ake tonu ake