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5 January 2020 (revised)
E hoa mā
Titiro atu ake ki te au pōuri
How can we not think of you?
You turn our days into evenings
our sun into a giant apocalyptic orange
that fills our horizon
a haze that hangs around for days
Up there
big brother
the atmosphere we share
is turning red
red like your soil
red like the blood
and the antipodean sky
we share
Friends
we are not so far away
that we cannot sense your nightmares
the smell of ash in the air
the death of eucalypts
the cry of the koala and the waratah
of heath and of kangaroos
of bush and of lizards
of birds above, of insects and of reptiles below
of adrenalin that rises up from every living creature
of homes and towns under siege
Neighbours
we are not too far away
that this devastation does not reach our nostrils
and touch our hearts
Tā tātou aroha ki Te Whenua Moemoeā
E ngā mate, moe mai, takoto mai rā
E te Atua
tahuri mai ki taku karanga
kia titaha mai tou taringa ki taku inoi…
whakatitahatia mai tou taringa ki ahau
whakarongo ki taku kupu
He inoi tātou mō te mutunga ki ēnei ahi whakamōtī
E te tuākana
Mā te Atua koutou
e manaaki e tiaki e ora e wairua ake tonu atu.