Pāhonoa te oro

The air had grown colder... by the time it began... No one gave the order... not out loud... It did not need to be spoken... Because everyone understood... The secret... was not yet safe... Not while they remained alive... The men who had carried him... who had dug the earth... who had seen the place... stood silently... Their faces... still... their eyes... empty... There was no panic... No resistance... Only acceptance... As if this... had always been part of