An occasional boat
by Siobhan Harvey
Aotearoa’s first waka were clouds
wearing, like precipitation, our future
gene-pools in their bellies. They began life
in Hawaiki, Portsmouth, Apia and Hong Kong.
Even now, in settlement, our people turn to their ancestors,
the clouds for connection, understanding and loss.
And the clouds oblige with reassuring rain, silvereyes,
stargazers, dragons, trains and even an occasional boat.