ED WAAKA


Tāmaki Makaurau/Auckland / Singer/Songwriter

Working from home amid Level 4 Lockdown

35-year-old musician based in Tāmaki Makaurau (Auckland), New Zealand who draws musical inspiration from the beauty of everyday life in an effort to create love and hope to those who listen.



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It’s noisy and crowded. As I come to my senses I find myself siting at a table in a fast food restaurant that resembles Burger King. There is a crowded line of people waiting to order. There is a sense of frustration and murmurs of impatience can be heard. The murmurs turn into shouting and there is a feeling of an impending war. A person throws a punch and a fight breaks out.

I take the chance to make my way to the front of the line while everyone is distracted to see what’s going on.

As I approach the counter I notice there is no food menu to order from and I’m greeted by a server who hands me a card with groups of numbers similar to bingo. He asks me to place an order.

At that moment my mind is flooded with questions and in anticipation he insists I order quickly in a blunt monotone voice.

I’m confused, realising now why the crowds are frustrated. They can’t leave until they get their orders, yet at the same time have no idea what they have ordered or when they will receive them.

I decide to choose some numbers from the card. There are a few numbers that are more bold than others so I relay these to the server. He points to my left and out of nowhere, 100s of aisles appear like in a supermarket which stretch into the horizon, each one labelled with the numbers on my card.

The fight is still going on behind me and I’m conflicted wether to stay or go in search of what these numbers mean or where they will lead me to.

(23/4/2020)




I’m climbing the cliff face of a snowy mountain. A strong blizzard is blowing but I can’t feel the cold or strong winds. I manoeuvre myself along jagged rocks and come across a small hole in the rock and reach for it to pull myself upward. Inside the hole is a scorpion. Instantly my body is flooded with fear and my first reaction is to descend. Instead I watch it for a brief second and realise it’s also trying to get to the top and has no interest in harming me.

As I watch it disappear around the cliffs edge, I’m transported to the peak where any sign of the storm has gone. The sun is shining above clouds that look like rippling swirling bodies of water, giving off a slight pearl fluorescence that glisten in the suns rays. Beneath my feet I’m standing above what looks like a well, full to the brim with water that has frozen solid, creating a clear translucent core of ice that runs down from the peak and through the centre of the Earth.

As I peer into the icy core, I can see moments of life from all around the world playing out in real time like short films, and what ever I want to see appears into view. The more I focus the more I’m able to see.

I look up briefly and see a shadowy figure in the distance. I call out to tell it what I have found. It doesn’t seem interested at all, like they can’t even hear me, and it decides instead to walk into the swirling, liquid clouds.

(14/4/2020)
© Neptune and Manisha Anjali

© Neptune and Manisha Anjali