Predator

Te Whiti
& Tohu
Cross
Raukawa Moana

& canoe pitches
& paddlers hunch
& sou’wester
Punches 

As Te Whiti
Stands
Tall
& leans
Into the squall

& it’s always the prophets
Who
Name
The predator

(The curse
Of
The common
People)

& Tohu
Wades
Ashore
On Onetahua

Uniting
The wairua
Of the
Land

& the mana
Of the
Master
To proclaim

You cannot serve both
Atua
&
Mammon

Because Mammon
Is the eater
Of
Souls

& the eater
Of
The whole
Earth

& I thought
I’d learnt
This
Long ago

But I’d forgotten
For such is
The
Power

Of the predator
To
Put a man
To sleep

Though
The power
Of the wairua
Is greater

To wake a man
So he
Walks
Again

‘Te Whiti & Tohu;’ prophets from the Maori village of Parihaka in Taranaki

‘Raukawa Moana;’ also known as Cook Strait  

‘Wairua of the land;’ the spirit of Onetahua

‘The mana of the Master;’ the power of the Christ. Te Whiti and Tohu were influenced by the teachings & mana of the Christ.

‘Atua;’ the maker or shaper, sometimes ‘God’

‘Mammon;’ wealth, as an idol or evil influence

.