toikupu #17, 2026
seventeen Is it haiku day? With seventeen syllables, Like that, it is done. Rauhina Kohuwai-Banks 17/4/2026, Ōtepoti: toikupu #17
toikupu #16, 2026
Advice from younger me to me, now So, I don’t know if I have much advice for you, I just think you underestimate yourself and all the knowledge and skills you’ve built up over time. I’d like you to remember what having tuākana to look up to
toikupu #15, 2026
halfway between flat and charged, halfway between sofa and bed, halfway between weeping and sleeping by which I mean halfway between two halves of myself and no more tāwaki, they’ve thrown a revolt done with the moult or maybe just moved on mass to the other side by which
toikupu #14, 2026
Taihoa Well actually the answer is to simplify Do less Rauhina Kohuwai-Banks 14/4/2026, Ōtepoti: toikupu #14
toikupu #13, 2026
THE WORD IS OUT age back bid board break burst cast class cries cry dated did fit fitter fox glitter grown house last law let lies lines look number patients puts rage rank rigger right roar skirts smart source spoken standing stretched weighed wit ward live haul flew doors do
toikupu #12, 2026
even an hour’s difference is changing the skyline on the hill out the window of our whare; we in turn write about how even an hour makes the changing sun out the window shift and kiss the skyline and the lips of our whare on the hill; and the
toikupu #11, 2026
how to release (a tree) first locate the marker. the marker will likely be completely surrounded by grass and weeds so all you will see is a tiny bit of bamboo pole or wooden post poking its head up above the overgrown wilderness. next, gently push at the tangle of
toikupu #10, 2026
rainbow rainwater arches illuminate nothing - but overhead wonder Rauhina Kohuwai-Banks 10/4/2026, Ōtepoti: toikupu #10
toikupu #9, 2026
origins our tūpuna adapted exchanged kava for kawakawa twenty three species to plant in the whenua (climate-permitting) our tūpuna adapted Matariki Matari’i Matali’i Mataliki Mataalii Mata’iki Matariki our tūpuna took colonisation and adapted (if that’s what you want to call it) Rauhina Kohuwai-Banks 09/4/2026,
toikupu #8, 2026
Ngā Hau e Whā: a found/heard poem from the Octagon Poetry Collective’s monthly open mic night, 8th April 2026 We come from Ngā Hau e Whā: From the north, we can’t get out of bed. We are tired shades of grey. We are vineyards of standing ovations.
toikupu #7, 2026
painting today il ta de tip eye time tohu kupu round brush let dry kaitiaki kōkōwai pencil in mountain wai māori paint brush dry let it dry colours of sky colours of sea let it dry let it dry white paint swirled black paint black paint pencil sketch pencil sketch
toikupu #6, 2026
taku pepeha as a curtal sonnet Nō hea tēnei manu, nā wai kē? Ko Te Waipounamu tana whai, Ko Aoraki te mauka whakahī. Ki hea tana rere? (koi pōhēhē!) Ki Waitaki, āe rā, mariki mai Ō roimata ki tae timu, tae pī. Kawea mai he kōkōwai, rākei Mō aku waka,