taniwha (pronounced tah-nee-fah) in Maori folklore are sea creatures depicted as serpents or dragons with fiery eyes. On occasion I saw a few people swimming there that fit that description but no serpents. *Skyhawks were RNZAF combat fighter jets.
In time shadows in an old windy shed are names of sojourners who've passed this way; now my wandering boot does older tread where I passed on a long forgotten day. I see their faces on wall and jetty drinking beer, watching the wind and tide turn, where on horizon across a dark sea aerodrome Air Squadron lights brightly burn. Time and tide fade in this hidden cove where beneath the waves the taniwha rove. By the salt marshes of this cold gulf sea I carved my name for a posterity. On its seawall and rocky jutting shore the white breasted gulls and shags flit the sky – yes, there was a time but not anymore I gazed the stars over Whenuapai. Crazed by lunar tide and hearts asunder fumbling some Anglo lass or native girl, or some legless dumb fool fallen under feeding the fishes with a mighty hurl! Into its riptides we dived bombed its depths on a leap of faith into the drop zone, and from its pull clung to those ocean steps where over the Skyhawk war birds had flown. Time and tide fade in this hidden cove where beneath the waves the taniwha rove. By the salt marshes of this cold gulf sea I carved my name for a posterity. Those dark undercurrents still rip below when its flood of memories ebb away, and now all I am is a time shadow where I passed on a long forgotten day. Written: December 1991
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