This is the official blog of Northern Arizona slam poet Christopher Fox Graham. Begun in 2002, and transferred to blogspot in 2006, FoxTheBlog has recorded more than 670,000 hits since 2009. This blog cover's Graham's poetry, the Arizona poetry slam community and offers tips for slam poets from sources around the Internet. Read CFG's full biography here. Looking for just that one poem? You know the one ... click here to find it.

Tuesday, July 11, 2023

"Reo Tuaiwi" by Christopher Fox Graham

Maori kapa haka performers from Rotorua, New Zealand, who performed at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History's Tuku Iho | Living Legacy exhibition sponsored by the New Zealand Embassy and New Zealand Māori Arts and Crafts Institute in 2017.

"Reo Tuaiwi" 

by Christopher Fox Graham

hōmai he moko ki a au
hōhonu ake i te kiri
i runga i nga wheua o taku tuaiwi
ki runga i te mata o ia vertebrae
i ia arero tangata
moko i ta rātau kupu mō "whiti"
kia kore ai he reo e rongo kē;
kia taea ai ia reo tangata
ka taea te kōrero mai he kupu i roto i a au

tuku i te Arapi me te Hīperu
noho ki te taha, kaore he pōhatu maka
tuku i ngā pūāhua Cantonese me hindi
hono ringa ki te pupuri i a Swahili me Hutu i roto i te hammock
tuku i a Pakihi rāua ko Zulu kia whakapā atu ki ngā ngutu o Vietnam
i a Navajo e noho ana i tōna māhunga ki runga i te pokohiwi o Mareia

e ono mano nga arero e kōrero ana mātau
engari māku e mau tonu te mamae me te wā
nō reira kāore e taea e te reo tangata te kōrero mai ki a au
me te kore whakaaro
ki raro ki te wheua

tuku i ngā mea e taea ana e Awherika
tiri mokowā ki ngā toi o Ūropi,
Ngā morphemes Āhia,
Me nga kupu a Apere,

whakarārangitia, ka whakairo i a rātou
pēnei i tētahi waehere pae waro i tuhia ki Braille
ka taea e nga kutukutu e tahuri anō ai ahau i tētahi rā
ki te whakapono o te puehu me te rehu
i whakapono ai mātau i te wā kotahi
i mua i tēnei karihi kikokiko me te toto
mauria mai mātau i te uku
whakatangi pūāhua poto i te marangai

Kia whakamātauria e rātau te mura o a tātau kupu
tukuna kia pau i a rātau he whiti
whakahokia ki te oneone
kia rongo ai te whenua i te taumahatanga o a tātau kupu
kaua hoki e wareware ki a mātau
ina ngaro tātau i a tātau
pēnei i te momo i mua i a mātau

whakairotia te kupu whakamutunga
i roto i te waehere mo te morse
i te pūtake o taku tuaiwi
Kia rongo ai ahau i te rangi o te kupu
i roto i aku pīpī ina moe ahau
.--. --- . - .-. -.--
tuku i ngā ira me ngā pīhono kia hora
puta noa i ōku wheua katoa i roto i te huaketo o te mātauranga
na, ki te ngaro i ahau toku reo
Ka taea tonutia e au te kōrero kupu
mā te patopato i ōku maihao,
pauna pahū
huri rānei i te rangi o taku manawa manawa
kōrero ki ōku toto

whakaaro

ono mano arero
whakatangi ana i taku tuarā
i roto i te whakariterite wāhanga-33
hanga i tētahi waea ki a au
me te melody e whakahoki ana
whakarunga i taku taura tuaiwi
paoro ana i te kaha me te kaha ake i roto i te kauhanga kauhanga
whakanui ana i te pūoro pūhui
te huarahi katoa ki te pūtake o tōku roro
ki hea whakapakū ai
ka uru anō ki roto i taku angaanga
ricocheting
e ono mano nga kīanga hou
mo te kupu kotahi
me nga reo o nga kaiwaiata e ono tekau mā rua
ki ōku whakaaro e ono trillion
kia kore rā anō e taea e au te tango i ētahi atu raruraru
a, ka pahū ta rātau waiata i ōku ngutu

whakahere i te ao
he wā o te mātauranga tukutahi
o tētahi waiata
reo kotahi
o te tangata kotahi
mō te inamata kotahi

i mua i ngā kimokimo o te ao
arotahi ngaro
ka whakarongo ki te pāoro
pōturi te memeha

engari kia mahara 
te oro 
o o tātau whiti

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