Uenuku

Light is a puzzle

and very earnest people

have ruined the rainbow

trying to figure it out

*

My brother said Rua slid down the rainbow

to hide the black diamond

Like Rainbow Brite? Nah, he said

Te Kooti

*

He says Te Kooti the same way he says Boots

he does not mean his lover

she is the first kurī he misses the most

he means Rua had many, many wives

*

Forget leprechauns, you have to meet Liam

and his wee dog Tommy, his jumbo pack of Barry’s tea

the flake in his cone, watch out now,

our Tommy is close enough to the cliffs

to be a saint

*

Ah, forget all that. Ireland is a land of rainbows

This means it rains a lot

but not like it rains here

*

I was in a motel room on the West Coast

knowing everything was wrong except the sex

and the rain, roaring

*

Earnest people have ruined rainbows and children

they have ruined the lionesses

and the light with all their guessing

seekers looking for a black diamond

instead of a pot of gold

How tacky! What I mean is be careful of te ao marama

be careful of enlightenment

be careful of black holes

Uenuku~Tainui 1200 -1500 AD