Inspiratiebrief 2: to Papatūānuku (aan Moeder Aarde)
Beste lezer,
Onlangs droeg Jacinda Arden, Eerste Minister van Nieuw Zeeland een gedicht voor van de dichter Nadine Anne Hura. Nadine heeft een Maori achtergrond en draagt dit gedicht op aan Moeder Aarde, to Papatūānuku in deze tijd van wereldwijde thuisisolatie.
Ik vind het een prachtig en ontroerend gedicht, vooral omdat het dit keer niet gaat over het lijden van onszelf, maar over het lijden van de aarde.
Zo mooi beschreven. En pijnlijk waar.
To Papatūānuku
Rest now, e Papatūānuku
Breathe easy and settle
Right here where you are
We’ll not move upon you
For awhile
We’ll stop, we’ll cease
We’ll slow down and stay home
Draw each other close and be kind
Kinder than we’ve ever been.
I wish we could say we were doing it for you
as much as ourselves
But hei aha
We’re doing it anyway
It’s right. It’s time.
Time to return
Time to remember
Time to listen and forgive
Time to withhold judgment
Time to cry
Time to think
About others
Remove our shoes
Press hands to soil
Sift grains between fingers
Gentle palms
Time to plant
Time to wait
Time to notice To whom we belong
For now it’s just you
And the wind
And the forests and the oceans and the sky full of rain
Finally, it’s raining!
Ka turuturu te wai kamo o Rangi ki runga i a koe
Embrace it
This sacrifice of solitude we have carved out for you
He iti noaiho – a small offering
People always said it wasn’t possible
To ground flights and stay home and stop our habits of consumption
But it was
It always was
We were just afraid of how much it was going to hurt
and it IS hurting and it will hurt and continue to hurt
But not as much as you have been hurt.
So be still now
Wrap your hills around our absence
Loosen the concrete belt cinched tight at your waist
Rest
Breathe
Recover
Heal
And we will do the same.
By: Nadine Anne Hura
Nadine Anne Hura
Jacinda Arden
Prime Minister of New Zealand, Leader of the Labour Party & MP for Mt Albert, Minister for National Security and Intelligence, Arts, Culture and Heritage, and Child Poverty Reduction
Rust uit, adem, herstel en genees,
Willemijn Lau
P.S. Wil je reageren op deze inspiratiebrief, stuur mij gerust een berichtje. Ik hoor graag van je!
Inspiratiebrief
