Written piece
Te Hiku o te Ika/The Tail of the Fish
Writers & Poets Doubtless Bay
New Zealand
About this piece
Original
Lines from a dozen writers are collated and edited into this poem in which wordsmiths find unity in their love for the blessings of their location and culture in the far north of New Zealand.
English translation
The Tail of the Fish
Northland, tail of Maui's great fish
warm-bodied lands fertile and benign
where our basket overflows with ancient lore
from Europe and old Polynesia
On the rumbling golden shores of New Zealand
encircled by the ocean’s aqua, blue and green
we’re tied to the world’s other sides
flowing together on the incoming tides
Scarlet flowers of Christmas trees fringe the bay
fantails dance in tangled vines at our door
the kiwi calls us from its blackberry-coated hills
and gorse bushes knot the valleys, sun-yellow
Bush, beach, birds and people
Weave us all together
When the thread is strong, so is the weave.
When the thread is strong, so is the weave.
Te Hiku o te Ika
Te Hiku o te Ika, tail of Maui's great fish
warm-bodied whenua fertile and benign
where our kete overflows with ancient lore
from Europe and old Polynesia
On the rumbling golden shores of Aotearoa
encircled by the ocean’s aqua, blue and green
we’re tied to the world’s other sides
flowing together on the incoming tides
Scarlet flowers of pōhutukawa fringe the bay
pīwakawaka dance in tangled vines at our door
the kiwi calls us from its blackberry-coated hills
and gorse bushes knot the valleys, sun-yellow
Bush, beach, birds and people
Weave us all together
Kaha te muka, kaha te raranga
When the thread is strong, so is the weave.
English translation
Glossary:
Te Hiku o te Ika - Northland, the tail of the fish
Maui - Maori folklore hero
whenua - lands
kete - basket
Aotearoa - New Zealand, land of the long white cloud
pōhutukawa - NZ Christmas tree
pīwakawaka - fantail bird