Trevor M Landers – Remnants

Landers LE P&W 3 Nov-Dec 2024

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Live Encounters Poetry & Writing Volume Three November-December 2024

Aotearoa Poets and Writers Special Edition

Remnants, poems by Trevor M Landers.

Poems in English and Te Reo Māori


Remnants (Old Tarata School)

The sky is a deep bruise,
the sun still shimmers
the furtive weather creeps inside
with the stealth of a brazen thief
the old school under elemental assault
sparrows are no match for a child’s laughter
last lines on a blackboard
a lament for memories of education lost
& what may metamorphize here in future?

He patunga hōhonu te rangi, whitiwhiti tonu te rā
ka ngokingoki te huarere huna ki roto
me te puku o te tahae parahi
te kura tāwhito i raro i te huaki
e kore e rite ngā pihoihoi ki te kata a te tamaiti
ngā rarangi whakamutunga i runga i te papa pango
he tangi mō ngā maharatanga o te mātauranga kua ngaro
& he aha te mea ka huri i kōnei a meake nei?


Paroxysmal at the Taramoukou Stream

The water runs clear as it has for aeons
hills speaking their silent tales
covetous lust for land; turgid is the light of thought
this muscular predilection to clear, furrow, territorialise
lusts of all kinds muddy the waters, not just the corporeal
lusts are driven, are a material state of mind
As the water burbles by happily there is a postural shift
A relaxation across the solar plexus, the trapezoids slacken
Lost in dissolute ecstasies, the bodies ligaments release
Headlong into a nocturnal state, as noon sun reaches apogee
wrestling with metaphors of transformation,
restive dream states for tohu and talisman.
Flocks of shady out-lined figures,
perhaps tūpuna of Maruwharanui
ensembles of furniture in my mind’s eye
perhaps the matakite of seers,
perhaps ordinary inaudible parole
the voices through the leafy Tarata trees
like a finely tuned percussion instrument
Victorian fairies,
the stealthy and wily Patupaiarehe
apparitions of mythic creatures
these sit freely; undisturbing our bouldering
feeling the cool mountain moisten our shoes
our carnivalesque platy belies the history telling
if only we would stop for a moment & listen;
listen to the Tī Kouka in the wind, the Tarata rustling
the gentle zephyr inviting us in.
we mihi to thee
not prostate for piety
but gazing into the ruffles of water
watching for geodesic shapes
marvelling at all we can see and absorb
noting the mauri and ihi of fast flowing water
as it leaks from cupped hands, slaked mouths
Here is a place called aroha
Here is a place someone can ambrosially call
Tūrangawaewae. Hokinga mai rā ki te hau kainga…
At this riverine idyll
washed clean of iniquities and imbued with wonderment
more pilgrimages may come.


The Waitara River from Toetoe Road
(Te Awanui nō Te Ara Toetoe)

there is nothing more majestic or mercurial
than this magnificent river
an artery, a sustainer of life
it flows past the farm
slower as I get older
swifter with a burst of energy
the colours, moods, and atmosphere
changing within the day
the natural brown blush of discolouration
a palette of greens and earth
a lifeline, a long-time friend

Kaore i kaiora nui ake,
ka tata nui i Takero rānei
atu i tēnei awa ataahua
he ia-tuku, he whakarawe i te ora
ka rere atu i karapitipiti i te pāmu
ka pōturi ake i tāku pakeketanga
tere ake me te hotu o te kaha
ngā tae, ngā āhua, me ngā kōhauhau
ka huri i roto i te rā
te whero parauri o te kōtuhitanga
he papata kakariki me te whenua
he aho ora, he hoa kua roa*

* The translation of mercurial was especially difficult
and the Māori text likens the river to the planet Mercury (Takeo)
but the aim here is not a verbatim translation but a faithful rendering
in the ārero (tongue) of each language, wisely.


© Trevor M Landers

Trevor M Landers is a Taranaki-based poet who is inspired by the local landscape and the stories which emanate from earth, wind and sky. He holds a Masters of Creative Writing (with Distinction) from AUT and has been widely published in New Zealand and internationally. His last book was an anthology called Ngā Purehu Kapohau and is currently editing a book of poems from Eastern Taranaki and the Ngati Maru tribe. He is increasingly exploring writing in English and Te Reo Māori, the indigenous language of Aotearoa New Zealand.

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