drum
on
cedar branch
split in
setting sun
cicada chant
shaman’s
rattle-drum
twirling us
twirling us
twirling us
toward sleep
twirling us
twirling us
twirling us
toward sleep,
in the slowing
beat, between
the crisp
woods of its
sound,
we walk
naked into
the earth’s
moulting
summer
but for the
rags of our
dance to
dance
porous
driftwood
stump
left above
the tide
that moon
in the late
afternoon
sky to east
not yet
wobbled
into fullness
the tide
is
running
Te Naupata (Musick Point)
february 2019
revised december 2020
Copyright © 2020 Peter Le Baige. All Rights Reserved
The cicada sounds were recorded by Edwin Yang and posted on Youtube, the earth copyrighting the existence of all parties involved, including the above dubious person of ‘author’.
Ruru ki Te Ruru 
Love the oral reading, as it helps us to see where the natural pauses are, and how the poem has spoken to you!
LikeLike
Great to know, Ana!
LikeLike
very cool, peter. love the last images: wood moon tide
LikeLike
Hi Dean, thanks very much, it’s a sound that plunges me into delicious reverie, like lying in a field of hay, or among stalks of wheat.
LikeLike