Rangiriri -150th
Rangiriri is the gate
its two hills salute
the traffic passing north
they crouch and aim
as you drive south
into their line of fire
the motorway builds
around them
when will the two hills
be one again
Oxford
27 September 2015
The Siege of Rangiriri occurred over 20-21 November 1863
The last line is quoted from a letter written by  Te Puea Herangi. Kawhia Harbour is the final landing place of the Tainui waka after its voyage from Eastern Polynesia.Kawhia
Kawhia
waits for the nightKawhia
to be filled
with the starslagoon
to lagoon
we came to herher waters
held in
by the barTainui
is floating again
Hamilton
20 September 2015
Raglan
Whatawhata
is the first step
climb on
through seas of rain
to green pinnacles
where night
alternates with day
by the moment
and giant turbines
tilt the wind
the road
is a staircase
that lets you down
from the sky
at Whaingaroa -
let the havens
the heavens
make a heathen
of you
4 September 2015
Hamilton
Tuheitia is the taniwha at Whatawhata which is where a famed whare wananga taught, which King Potatau studied at. Every year King Tuheitia visits his tutelary taniwha at dawn before the poukai at Whatawhata.
Whatawhata
Whatawhata
is easy to miss
a clump of trees
a few sections
and a store
overlooked
place of learning
almost hidden
in the open
of a school for chieftains
some shelter remains
washed by
the Waipa
revising its course
by oxbows
as the bright earth bleeds
torrents of clay
there’s no secret -
to the Queen
her chain
to Tuheitia
his taniwha
4 September 2015
Hamilton NZ
On seeing a photo of Sir George Grey in uniform
great Grey ghost
you got your way
this great grey rain
this great Grey Street
this great grey town
this morning
you got your
Great South Road
you got your war
you got your peace
you got your world
that is ours now
this solid wet morn
we forget your war
we forget your peace
we forget your great
Greyness
we have forgotten
we are begotten
and just are
sodden conquistador
of great rains
which keep coming back
1 September 2015
Grey Street Kitchen
Hamilton NZ
Rangiriri - March 2015
 Rangiriri - March 2015Â
the siege is still
going on
the siege’s now on
in peace
a motorway’s
being built
graders diggers
dump-trucks work -
where ironclads
landed their shot
pile-drivers
make their report
the parted hill
keeps its place
rough ground
where men stumbled
into metal
steep to die under
die on
a fence and lychgate
seal off
once
raw earthworks too
between the lake
and the river
lie the swamps
and still
the only way through
15-16/17 August 2015
Heathrow Terminal Three
Melbourne International Airport
The siege of Rangiriri took place 20-21 November 1863
the siege is still
going on
the siege’s now on
in peace
a motorway’s
being built
graders diggers
dump-trucks work -
where ironclads
landed their shot
pile-drivers
make their report
the parted hill
keeps its place
rough ground
where men stumbled
into metal
steep to die under
die on
a fence and lychgate
seal off
once
raw earthworks too
between the lake
and the river
lie the swamps
and still
the only way through
15-16/17 August 2015
Heathrow Terminal Three
Melbourne International Airport
The siege of Rangiriri took��place 20-21 November 1863.�
At the white pine at Otorohanga 200 years ago, a Nga Puhi war party armed with muskets was destroyed. They had that day defeated Ngati Maniapoto Warriors, who had however instructed their women to distract the victors, until they regrouped and struck back. Otorohanga lies right at the aukati or King Country border. It has long been a place for holding back, for detainment.
Otorohanga
don’t doubt
the redoubt
you will learn
at Otorohanga
by the white pine
or kahikatea
how far south
you may go -
all you
war parties
British armies
railroaders
shepherd kings
cow cockies
grog-runners
Ernst and Young
PwC
here it is
standing in the stars
on the rough domain
the tree hedged
in constellation
because
Ngati Maniapoto women
once seduced
musket-wielding victors
from the north
and withdrew
as their men rose
from the river
before dawn
Upas tree
sown in sperm blood
and brain
wrath-stock and anger-stem
trunk and branch balance
at the white pine
of judgement -
everyone will know victory
each will taste defeat
some must know oblivion
Oxford
14 August 2015
King Country
the last stand
was not the end
refuge was found
in a final place
where karst hills
like buried clouds
swallow up rivers
and pour them out
again
soldiers never
came in pursuit
Te Kuiti never
fell to arms
the people came out
more numerous
and younger
there Te Kooti
and the King
discerned the secret ways
through time
to this day
the ground will give way
the belligerent air
go solid with rain
the sky harden with gales
that ground the planes
the wharenui quiver
with defiance
at each passing freight
gods of war
marshalled
a riband of rainbow
salutes
the black sunset
Richard of York gave ………
29 July 2015
Oxford
The King Country is the name given the redoubt of the second Maori King Tawhiao (reiged 1860-94) , when Ngati Maniapoto who live about Te Kuiti gave refuge to the King and his Tainui people in 1864 during the Waikato War. Te Kooti Arikirangi Te Turuki ( c 1832-93) the warleader and prophet from Ngati Maru on the Eastern Cape, also found refuge in Te Kuiti, and built the wharenui, or meeting house which still stands there.
Taupiri
Taupiri -
young mountain
a shoulder for kings
28 March 2015
Hopuhopu
Ngaruawahia
Taupiri mountain is where the Maori kings are buried. The Hakarimata ranges are geologically young.
Haumia
where fantails
had saltimbiqued
the day before
above a nameless creek
a spade was left standing
in the bush today
an orange and black shovel
trademarked ” Atlas”
planks lay
across the streams to it
without boot-treads
in the mud
no digging or planting
where it had lodged
with one clean cut
meanwhile
a downdraught of ferns
blew about
in the gully beside
left was
the spade’s advent
the spade itself planted
and kept
Te Awamutu
3 July 2015
Haumia is the Maori gods of ferns, and uncultivated plants, and edible fern-roots.