MATA-ATUA ^{1                                        1}  The first voyaging canoe & Air New Zealand Boeing 777.

Cloud stitcher,

celestial elephant.

He’s all the sevens,

two Barlick turbos, ^{2 2}  Rolls Royce, Barnoldswick.

and a Koru on his tail. ^{3 3}  Maori, Spiral design.

Up there,

six minutes to Lockerbie,

thirty thousand feet

and the seat belts’ sign off.

Time for a Bourbon on the rocks,

a Chardonnay

and another ten hours to LA.

Now - below,

I sit in my Yorkshire garden

and everyday,

six miles away,

his white yarn

stitching the clouds, he goes.

I raise my glass and say

“Haere Ra! ⁴  Maori, Farewell.

Haere - Haere - Haere.”