Give me an ordinary day
Ordinary days
Where the salt sings in the air
And the tūī rests in the tree outside our kitchen window
And the sun is occluded by cloud, so that the light
does not reach out and hurt our eyes
And we have eaten, and we have drunk
We have slept, and will sleep more
And the child is fed
And the books have been read
And the toys are strewn around the lounge
Give me an ordinary day
Ordinary days
Where I sit at my desk, working for hours
until the light dims
And you are outside in the garden,
clipping back the hedge and trees
And then I am standing at the sink, washing dishes,
And chopping up vegetables for dinner
We sit down together, we eat, our child is laughing
And you play Muddy Waters on the stereo
And later we lie in bed reading until midnight
Give me an ordinary day
Ordinary days
Where no one falls sick, no one is hurt
We have milk, we have bread and coffee and tea
Nothing is pressing, nothing to worry about today
The newspaper is full of entertainment news
The washing is clean, it has been folded and put away
Loss and disappointment pass us by
Outside it is busy, the street hums with sound
The children are trailing up the road to school
And busy commuters rush by talking on cellphones
Give me an ordinary day
And because I’m a dreamer, on my ordinary day
Nobody I loved ever died too young
My father is still right here, sitting in his chair,
where he always sits, looking out at the sea
I never lost anything I truly wanted
And nothing ever hurt me more than I could bear
The rain falls when we need it, the sun shines
People don’t argue, it’s easy to talk to everyone
Everyone is kind, we all put others before ourselves
The world isn’t dying, there is life thriving everywhere
Oh Lord, give me an ordinary day
Kiri Piahana-Wong
Kiri Piahana-Wong, Ngāti Ranginui, is a poet and editor, and is the publisher at Anahera Press. Kiri’s first full-length collection, Night Swimming, was published in 2013.
