Kōkako

I am a grey bird in hiding. I fledged from the high boughs of a beech tree in the valley below. I now live with others in a lonely Rimu standing on the sacred Mountain at the centre of Aotearoa - Maungatapu. Our tree stands not far, as the Tui flies, from what they call Murderer's Rock.  How could they do that on my mountain? 

In order to survive - I have learned to dive, I have learned to delve, and I have learned to weave. The fishes are now my friends 

The chlorophyll tears of our tree drip from its boughs. We cry for the earth together. In the dark of the morning, before the sun rises over Te Hoiere, I call  into the silence.

Auē - I am still alive. 

Avatar artwork: Kaitlin Beckett - a-curious-bestiary.com