Some Māori believe that when they die, their spirit travels up New Zealand to the tip of the North Island – souls flying like birds
After a long struggle with her health, Mum died in Auckland in 2012. At the end of her funeral service a blackbird (Turdus merula) flew inside the church. It fluttered and hopped about her coffin, which was laid on the floor in front of the altar on a beautiful Tongan tapa cloth. The blackbird lingered next to Mum for some time, then flew back out the open doors.
I stayed at my sister Lisa’s home for a week after the funeral. The morning after the ceremony, a blackbird appeared in the back yard. I noticed it as I sat outside. It stayed around for a few days, sometimes perched in the sunshine on a brown wooden fence, often poking around for insects in the new spring grass. Those days were warm, still and quiet – far from how I felt. I found solace in the blackbird.
