Te Waihora
headlights
illuminate
the dark
stars, midges
midges, stars
small splats
on windscreen
kill the romance
of the scene
our girl held
wonder in her
eyes — flying
along the edge
of a lake
so widespread
it was bigger than
civilisation
illuminate
the dark
stars, midges
midges, stars
small splats
on windscreen
kill the romance
of the scene
our girl held
wonder in her
eyes — flying
along the edge
of a lake
so widespread
it was bigger than
civilisation
September 2024
Ariana Tikao is a Māori writer and musician from Aotearoa New Zealand whose work explores themes of identity, ancestral stories and mana wahine – the power of women. She was awarded as an Arts Laureate in 2020. Her writing has appeared in Takahē, Turbine Kapohau, Tupuranga, Swamp, Awa Wahine, and a Fine Line, and has had two books published: Mokorua: My Story of Moko Kauae and Te Rā: The Māori Sail. Ariana has an MA in Creative Writing from the International Institute of Modern Letters at Victoria University of Wellington, and last year was a writer in residence for six months at the University of Canterbury.
Art: Kelly Cressio-Moeller, Childhood Faultlines. Mixed media: acrylic, ink, paper, mica flakes on basswood panel, 2023.