Four Kumara
i. Churn
I piled four stones from the local beach
like gizzard-stones from a moa midden
putting them on the log we watched
at high tide wondering if the waves
would carry that log to the ocean. They
never did. The trunk was well dug in, truly
beached. I took a photo of the stones
and collected likes from my followers--
most of them came from tangata whenua
like us. I squeeze back the tears.
ii. Mahia te mahi
I then moved the stones
to my waka, sat them in
the cup holder. I see them
whenever I ride to Otepoti,
or Ōtautahi, past the fibreglass
moa outside the Old Bones spa.
The plastic moa is across
the road from the real moa
piles-of-bones where they were
likely eaten by our tūpuna
on their gathering journeys
through our many mahika kai.
iii. Article 3 Citizenship
I don’t wish to give the wrong
impression about us eating
all the moa to serve
another okaying narrative
about how it’s sweet
to chew up the forests,
and all that is precious
as guarded under Article 2
of the English language Treaty.
Not at all.
iv. Kumara the Fourth (or, the 4th article)
I want to be Papatūānuku’s friend
and show us/you/me/him/ her/māua/mātou/tāua/tātou/
koe/kōrua/koutou/ ahau/ia now the billion spirals
of the waves.
Robert Sullivan is Aotearoa New Zealand’s current Aotearoa Poet Laureate. He belongs to Ngāpuhi (Ngāti Manu, Ngāti Hau / Ngāti Kaharau) and Kāi Tahu (Kāti Huirapa ki Puketeraki) iwi and is also of Irish descent. His ninth book of poems, Hopurangi / Songcatcher (AUP) was shortlisted for the Mary and Peter Biggs Award at the 2025 Ockham NZ Book Awards. His poetry speaks to an idealised, empowered New Zealand society for all and addresses the people who live there in the future. Robert is Associate Professor in Creative Writing at Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa Massey University, and current President of the NZ Poetry Society / Te Rōpū Toikupu o Aotearoa. He lives in Ōamaru on the ancestral coastline of Te Tai o Āraiteuru.
