Aotearoa

Land of the long, white, cloud

Your mountains beat in my heart

While your rivers course through my veins.

I can’t sleep tonight, I lie awake thinking of you.

Dear land that earned my love.

You gently wooed me with your subtle charms.

I close my eyes and I can hear the cicadas beating their rhythmic percussions.

The salty smell of sea mixes with the earthy tones of flax and rises through my nostrils to my deepest senses and my heart cries out:

“I am home”

Come to me as I sleep.

Let me walk along your shores.

Welcome me home once more.

No i ki te whenua.

Haere mai.