MoĚteateaÂ
Iona Winter
The moĚteatea enclosed in my chest
aches to be releasedâ¨
tangi te mapuâ¨
I must draw breath
Silently I witnessâ¨
peopleâs meaningless wordsÂ
render mine unspokenâ¨
âIâm sorry for your lossââ¨
What the fuck does that mean?Â
I wish they would stopÂ
New lava etchesâ¨
across my heartâ¨
joining solidified tracksâ¨
of those before youâ¨
did you know that my teardropsÂ
contain all of the oceans?Â
The moĚteatea enclosed in my chestÂ
aches to be releasedâ¨
tangi te mapuâ¨
I must draw breathÂ
I want to call you backâ¨
from wherever you have goneÂ
weâre not done yetâ¨
you didnât give me timeâ¨
but I see PapatuĚaĚnukuâ¨
now greets your bonesÂ
You are in meâ¨
our handsâ¨
all of our mothersâ handsâ¨
are kaĚkano-womb-seed remindersÂ
that scratch at my bellyâ¨
like a ngaĚngara tailÂ
The moĚteatea enclosed in my chestÂ
aches to be releasedâ¨
tangi te mapuâ¨
I must draw breathÂ
MĹteatea, by Ĺtepoti-based writer and poet, Iona Winter, responds to the 2018 exhibition, What should I do now, with my hands? by Melbourne-based practitioner, Beth Caird featuring work by Faith Wilson. This exhibition bought together Caird's continuation of a focus on grief processes and life-after-death experiences, self-made myths and the truth buried under fabrications.Â
For more information and to view documentation of the exhibition, click here.
Iona Winter is of MÄori (Waitaha) and Celtic descent, and lives on the East Otago coast. Her short stories, poetry, and essays have appeared in many New Zealand and international publications. The recipient of the 2016 Headland Frontier Prize, she has performed at the Edinburgh International Book Festival, and in 2018 was shortlisted with the Bath Novella-in-Flash Award. Passionate about Aotearoa, Iona writes in hybrid forms that highlight the intersection between written and spoken word. Through a profound connection with nature she weaves past, present and future, traditional and contemporary, to create a bicultural melding of the worlds she inhabits.
