Aine Whelan-Kopa – Moemoeā

Aine Whelan-Kopa LE Aotearoa NZ P&W April 2023

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Moemoeā – Dreams, by Aine Whelan-Kopa (Ngāti Hine)


Moemoeā – Dreams

Moemoeā – Dreams
When it went from never wanting to stop, to deciding I was never going to stop.

That’s when I knew the difference between dreaming and destiny.

Toi – Art
When it made me happy for hours to spend time with it, imagining it and then
making it with my own hands. Staring for ages, like I did with my boy when he
was a baby and everyday in-between.

That’s when I knew the difference between like and love.

Kupu – Words
I’m so very careful with my words. I haven’t been in the past. I hurt a lot of
people and got in a lot of trouble. I thought no one really listened to the words,
I was wrong. I’m saying better words now because I’ve softened up and the
kupu come from my heart-heart.

With kupu, I learned the difference between saying it and meaning it.

Whānau – Family
The first thing I think of is Hokianga and Cyclone Bola 1988. It’s the only time
I ever remember it raining. And then I think of split apart. The happenings of
the past flip over in chronological order, how the chords got broken on our ipu
of love. We got stretched so hard that some whenu snapped. But since our babies
got born, I’ve embraced the way we’ve been weaving it back together.

That’s the difference between whāmere and whānau.

Roimata – Tears
Countless, but I remember every single one, like I’m a cloud. I suck them up
and let them out again in recycled tear-rain. Surviving those dark days and
taking the lesson makes me one resilient wahine toa.

That’s the difference between letting go and moving on.

Aroha – Love
All of the above.
And more.

Therein lies the difference between losing and living.


© Aine Whelan-Kopa (Ngāti Hine)

Aine Whelan-Kopa (Ngāti Hine) is from Te Tai Tokerau and Taranaki.  She has had stories, poems and art that draw from her upbringing, published in takahē magazine and a fine line. Aine is a person who notices the little things and feels compelled to write about them.

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