I, Hauroko
I am Hauroko, here I lie, kin to the wind, and mountain and sky,
high and sweet my spirit sings, clean and sharp my beauty rings,
cold and dangerous like a knife, perhaps you fear I’ll take your life?
For when I dance with mountain air that sweeps down from it’s rocky lair,
perhaps I will not see you there, though you may cry out in despair,
for dancing occupies my all, I simply may not hear you call.
I am Hauroko, cold and deep, what dark deeds did mankind weep,
what ancient sadness do I keep? My peaceful people were betrayed,
by warlike neighbours they were slayed, and dark my waters ran in flood,
with mankind’s violence, mankind’s hate, mankind’s blood.
Their bodies wept in my embrace, can you feel the sadness of this place?
Long since my waters purged their stain, but in the ethers, echoes remain.
I guard the Princess of the Lake, and of this legend you can make
of many things, of death and doom, or just a wisely chosen tomb.
She had come to know my heart, and at the end she would not part
herself to any other place, for having found her state of grace,
she chose her final resting place, now none remain of her ancient race.
She was the leader of the slain,
and in her heart she keeps their pain, with dispensation to remain.
Although bones and sinews lie at rest, there is no end to the spirit’s quest.
A restless spirit only still to keep its own macabre vigil.
And so she waits, is waiting still.
I am Hauroko, I reside in valleys walled by mountain sides.
Your secrets in my depths I hide, I guard them with a Warrior’s pride.
I am Hauroko, wild and free, and if you come here you may see
me clothed in misty mystery. Oh you, the mystic, come to me,
and I will teach you how to be as I, a misty mystic mystery.
I am Hauroko, here I lie, look on me and wonder why
you can never be the same, now that your heart knows Hauroko’s name.
Copyright © May 2000 D R Stanley, Invercargill. NZ
