when you
speak my language
better than me
I turn into a stone lizard
ossified in shame and jealousy
waves lap at your sandy toes
as you spin
summer fibres
into kites for your children
watching
from the dunes
I bake in atrophy
dusty carrion
too angry to learn behind you
the hawk
circles overhead
crying the names of my ancestors
Miriama (Ngāti Rakaipaaka, Ngāti Pahauwera, Ngāti Kahungunu) recently returned to the home fires of Aotearoa / New Zealand for the comedy duet of decolonisation and motherhood.
Miriama is a secondary teacher who is also studying immersion reo at Te Whare Wānanga o Raukawa. When she is not practising her reo, Miriama can be found drawing rainbows in street chalk with her toddler. She first discovered Awa Wahine through attending the Wāhine Who Write workshop in March 2019.
“It's a space to embrace wahine Māori without having to fight for a space, let alone censor ourselves to fit in. Where I can be Māori without representing Māori.”
