Submitted by Anna Cates
Before the Maori venerated Io, Maui pulled up from the sea land dripping in seashells, forging islands, stealing fire from the underworld. He ate the flames like the high priest’s morsel from his servant’s instrument . . .
The priest is untouched. The tapu is unbroken. The fire ever burns.
tropical bird calls
the last mango falls
Hawaiian twilight
at a sunset hula
the final aloha
Painting Credit: Daryl Millard – “Starry Night Tikis”
Vita Brevis Press. 
Maoris are a very important heritage in New Zealand. They were the ones who almost defeated the British expansion