Youve Arrived

You’ve Arrived
You arrived like weather
No warning, no apology
Just here
And suddenly the room
Had more future in it
They call some children planned
You were meant
You carry whole maps in your veins
Māori earth, Samoan ocean
Pā-la-ngi wind, Australian sun
United we stand, Nations’ feet
Running through the house
Like love already won
You surprised your father
Into becoming more himself
You surprised your mother
Into new kinds of courage
You surprised us all
Into remembering that joy
Sometimes turns up late
And barefoot
You carry whole maps in your veins
Old blood singing something new
Diplomacy doesn’t matter now
When everyone’s already you
You’re starting sentences
But not quite yet
You speak in movement
In spilled water
In half-sung songs straight from your puku
In questions that undo adults
You make the Tasman ripple
Even when you’re not near it
You bend family toward you
Like gravity is personal
I can’t hold you in words
Not just yet
But I can hold you in melody
And I will sing you tall
I will sing you wide
I will sing you forward
Until the day
You outgrow
All of us

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