will we ever hongi again
meet greet weep embrace
stand close kanohi ki te
kanohi share the
breath let the tears mingle
together like a river
as one will we close the
gap span the distance
‘haere mai ki te ruru,’
shake our ringa ringa, smile
hug and kia kotahi
mai ano, will we let our hūpē
flow like a mucous web across
the marae or will we
lockdown
have a virtual tangi
karanga over our
mobile, email aroha
from afar
whaikōrero ki te camera
Apirana Taylor (Ngāti Porou, Te Whānau ā Apanui, Ngāti Ruanui, Te Āti Awa, Ngāti Pākehā) is a nationally and internationally published poet, storyteller, playwright, novelist, actor, painter, and musician. He was 1996 Writer in Residence at Massey University, and 2002 ‘Writer in Residence’ at Canterbury University. His poetry and short stories are studied in secondary schools (for NCEA Levels 1 and 2) polytechnics and universities, and have been translated into German, Italian, Spanish, Norwegian and Russian. He has twice been invited to India to read his poetry and is frequently invited to Europe to tour and read his work at festivals, schools, and universities. In 2012 he was invited to South America to present his work at the Medellin International Poetry festival in Medellin, Colombia. In 2018 he attended Ubud International Writers’ Festival. He has written several books of poetry and short stories, a novel, and several plays, and won awards for his poetry and short stories. His work has also been published in most major New Zealand anthologies, and he has written for radio and television. Apirana visits schools, prisons, libraries, universities, and tertiary institutions, doing poetry performances, storytelling and taking creative writing workshops.
Love in the Time of COVID 