At Titahi Bay, most days there are surfers out on the water, whether there’s any surf or not. I’ve never heard any of them singing, but they could be.
There’s a surfer out on the water
singing. He has a high voice
like a gull, or a car alarm.
People who live by the beach
sometimes say they hear a god
singing the world into existence.
They say it is Tangaroa, god of
the sea. But others say, Tangaroa
has the voice of a whale, not a pipi.
The surfer doesn’t care. He sits there
riding the small waves, hoping
for the one large swell worth catching.
Birds fly silently above him.
He sings, in his high voice, a strange
tune, with no rhythm. The broken
water chops against his board.
He stays there after the light has gone,
singing in the dark,
and people who live by the beach
sometimes say they hear angels.
