Vaughan Rapatahana (Te Ātiawa) commutes between homes in Hong Kong, Philippines and Aotearoa New Zealand. He is widely published across several genre in both his main languages, te reo Māori and English and his work has been translated into Bahasa Malaysia, Italian, French, Mandarin, Romanian, Spanish.
I am a Flying Islands poet – Atonement Macau, 2015.
Right now I am in Mangakino. Lake Maraetai is our mighty lake.
at lake maraetai
these swan
glide in
an ontology
alien to my own.
their empyrean metaphysic,
through all dimensions,
isomorphic
& immutable.
in their majesty
they t r a n s c e n d
this lake
as they dip deep
beneath;
as they glissade
with immaculate grace
a c r o s s
the surface;
as they foster
their funicular of cygnets
in all directions.
this archipelago of swan
transubstantiate
my inauthenticity
into an ecstasy,
I could once
never own.
