20

It’s my birthday as I watch samples
Taken from Fish Creek & Te Waikoropupu

& learn about the Arthur Marble Aquifer
& the stygofauna that clean the water

How it goes in brown & comes out clear
& the science guy wonders at the brilliance of the early Maori

Who didn’t have science, but knew she was alive
& they called her – Huriawa –

& I say – ‘But we mustn’t forget the early Maori
Lived a lot closer to Nature than we do, & had Tohunga

Who saw in ways science can’t
& who knew Te Waikoropupu was a living being’ –

& I look up at the science guy  
& he’s smiling & grinning & nodding his head

Dedicated to the two ‘science guys’ who took me with them
As they tested the waters of Fish Creek, and Te Waikoropupu.

 ‘Stygofauna;’ tiny creatures that live underwater in cave
& aquifer systems

‘Huriawa:’ “The taniwha Huriawa, who lives at Te Waikoropupu
Is one of the three main taniwha of Aotearoa

‘Tohunga;’ priest/shaman’s who have the gift of being able
To connect with the hidden powers of the natural/spiritual world.