Visit to the Museum They surround me here The spirits of my ancestors Embedded in wood Soft-swirling Fine-turning As intricate and magnetic As the fine twists of smoke Which blackened sturdy rafters And raupo-roofing … Huddled here together Banded tight against Enemy, storm and ghost Warm to dream … As white smoke etches slowly Against encroaching dark And the sleepy murmur Of women, children And warrior And still supreme — The sleepy-eyed artist Knowing that his people Rely unknowingly Upon the skill of his tools And the message of his art Dreaming into the Soft-swirling smoke And the blunt primitive chisel Realizing the dream in wood Pattern Clothing the dream with red And gold and black, Blessing the dream with the Sanctity of life Leaving the dream … Here … In this strangest of places Aligned with the near Forgotten cultures Of other ethnic groups … This … Is Maori How … Strange to see it here Raupo and steel Wood and concrete Adze and power drill Old and new Forgotten and remembered Equity … Dinah M. Rawiri