Uwha
my puku tō maunga
majestic and rippled
in spite of
quakes
rocked in the earth
hine puia
hauled up the beach
te wheiao
ki te ao mārama
mokopuna of mothers
my wai tō awa
ka rere
puna manawa whenua
like a river delta
into your fingers
my shoulders tō waka
when tāwhirimātea makes us
restless
carved totara limbs
set you free
enclose when you need
grounding
uwha
one day
you will be papatūānuku
and i will go
back to the earth
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.”
