Tai Pari

For Jax

e hoa, you lost sight of the moon tonight

the sky fractured and he fell out

we were raised searching, searching, searching

for the kind of permanence

very few find

but you found him, e hoa

and he found you

we weren’t prepared for what happened

when permanence became a moment,

a split second and then a memory

but maybe we can live a lifetime in a moment?

or two weeks? and maybe we can relive a moment

over and over again?

i will rewind the tape

and that way you two will never stop dancing

and then you won’t have to say goodbye

Ko te utu o te aroha, he mamae

i’ve stopped searching for meaning in the phases of the moon

it is just rock

in the sky

that reflects light

but i’m boarding my plane now, e hoa

i’m coming to collect you from amongst the planets and the stars

homai ō ringa

let me bring you back down the vines

to earth and we can cover him

in a korowai of earth

together

he belongs to her now, Pō,

and you belong here, with me, amongst the living

but tai pari, you can still love him, e hoa

king and spring

high and low

as sure as an ebbing tide flows.

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