RainPoetry by Hone Tuwhare Music by Don McGlashan

I can hear you making small holes in the silencerain

If I were deafthe pores of my skinwould open to youand shut

And Ishould know youby the lick of youif I were blind

the steadydrum-roll soundyou makewhen the wind drops

the somethingspecial smell of youwhen the sun cakesthe ground

But if Ishould not hearsmell feel or seeyou

you would stilldefine medisperse mewash over merain

Hone Tuwhare

• Born October 1922• Died January 2008• From Hokianga – Ngäpuhi, Ngäti Korokoro,

Tautahi, Uri o Hau, Te Popoto and Scottish Descent

• Lived in Auckland and Wellington• Last 20 years in Otago – Kaka Point

Hone Tuwhare• His first volume of poems, No Ordinary Sun, hit

bookshelves in 1964.• It marked him not only as a working - class poet - he was a

boilermaker before dedicating himself to poetry - but it was also the first book of poetry by a Maori writer in English.

• The collection also signaled his intense and lasting interest in political issues as subject material.

• No Ordinary Sun was a passionate cry against nuclear weapons, written in response to the atomic bomb destruction of Hiroshima in 1945.

Hone Tuwhare

• Other collections followed, as well as plays. Poetry collections included Mihi (1987), Short Back and Sideways (1992), Deep River Talk (1993), Shape-Shifter (1997), and Piggy-Back Moon (2002).

• His last book was simply called ‘Oooooo….!!!’ (2005)• Artist friend Ralph Hotere illustrated four of

Tuwhare's volumes of poetry.• Honorary doctorate from Otago University, 1998.• New Zealand’s second Te Mata Poet Laureate, 1999

Hone Tuwhare

• Engaging Students – Maori and non-Maori– Local– Relevant– Accessible– Funny– Resources are available– Bilingual– used Maori within his poetry– Walked in both worlds – Maori and Pakeha

Hone Tuwhare

“He is held in the highest esteem in both Maori and Pakeha culture. He writes from a Maori perspective, one that reveals his in-depth experience, understanding and knowledge of being Maori. Yet this conglomeration of attitudes and perceptions is universally identifiable. I believe all people can personally relate and respond to his writing. It is this skill that makes him so very special.” Waana Morrell Davis, Chairperson – Teo Maori Aotearoa

Bibliography

• Hunt, Janet., Tuwhare: A Bibliography, Random House, 1999

• Tuwhare – CD, Toi Maori Aotearoa, Various Artists, 2005• Tuwhare, Hone., Mihi: Collected Poems, Penguin Books,

1987• Tuwhare, Hone., Oooooo….!!! Steele Roberts Ltd, 2005• http://www.honetuwhare.co.nz/ retrieved 23/07/08• http://www.artsfoundation.org.nz/

hone_tuwhare02.html/ retrieved 23/07/08