Aoraki

Aoraki
Mount Cook

A ‘must-see’ from Lake Pukaki they say
the view of Aoraki
‘incredible’
‘awesome’.
But today
the light won’t play.
I wait under loaded cloud
stare at the far horizon
strain for the postcard peak
and snow-clad slopes.
On the farthest shore
white sky has descended
to meet the teal blue
curtaining the numen
in impenetrable
luminous brightness.
Thus Moses saw The Promised Land
across the Jordan.
There is nothing for the sight-seer
only a mystery
bleached of all knowing
shining

The Long White Cloud, poems from Aotearoa