the backyard

COMMUNE

Every morning I open the blinds and let the light in.

I spend all day reading. The light changes its position in the
sky, falling yellow over different parts of my body as I sit
cross-legged on the bed.

Somewhere in the trees outside are tūī, kererū, ruru, kōtare.
They commune with one another as the sun gets low and
moves past the horizon. The sun sets over the Waitākere
Ranges, making way for new kinds of light. We rely on
artificial sources now.

 

Stacey Teague, from Plastic, Te Herenga Waka University Press, 2024

 

I thought it might be fun to do a roundup of posts on the blog over the week, and touch base with various poetry-related things that caught my attention.

A cluster of new poetry books landed in my letterbox this week – from various publishers – so satisfying to see the range of voices and productions. Three new books from The Cuba Press – Robin Peace, Lee Murray, Peter Rawnsley); from Te Herenga Waka University Press – Airini Beatrais‘s essays The Beautiful Afternoon and romesh dissanayake‘s poetic novel when I open the shop. From Te Perehi o Mātātuhi Taranaki – Ngā Pūrehu Kapohau: A Literary Homage to Pātea, Waverley and Waitōtara, edited by Trevor M Landers, Vaughan Rapatahana with Ngauru Rawiri. And from Massey University Press – Katūīvei: Contemporary Pasifica Poetry from Aotearoa New Zealand, edited by David Eggleton, Vaughan Rapatahana and Mere Taito. Plus an advance copy of Claire Mabey‘s children’s novel from Allen & Unwin.

Our Poet Laureate Chris Tse has been singing the praises of poetry in various places. He shared three poems with Emile Donovan on Radio NZ National and talked about how to read a poem – and it got me thinking about why I love working in schools, sparking children from Y0 to Y13, to read and write poems, and enter fabulous word playgrounds where rules can be broken, invented and obeyed – and where ears and eyes and hearts go adventuring.

In a Q & A for AA’s latest Directions Ngā Ahunga magazine, Chris says of the Poet Laureate role: ‘How can I use the role to change perceptions of poetry to make it more visible to different groups of people?’

Chris has also selected 25 vital poems for Ōrongohau |Best New Zealand Poems 2023.

What struck the deepest chord this week was reading Claire Mabey’s Domestic Animals post at Substack. ‘An Autumnal Roundup and banging my drum’ (April 9th), nails exactly what I have been thinking over the past weeks, especially in the middle of the night. Each morning when I press ‘publish’ on a new Poetry Shelf post, and then get stuck into writing and assembling the next one, I shudder. There is such unbearable stuff going on in the world and here in Aotearoa, it feels off-key to celebrate poetry and books, from comfort poems to the melancholic, from beauty to the challenging, from food to climate change. See link below.

I would like to gift one annual subscription to Domestic Animals to a reader who is in need of an uplift. Message me.

I would also like to gift a copy of Grace Yee‘s shortlisted poetry collection, Chinese Fish, to another poetry fan. Message me. See my review/feature link below.

On the blog this week

Monday Poem: Fiona Kidman’s ‘My daughter makes quilts’

Tuesday: Ockham NZ Book Award feature: Grace Yee – a reading and a review
Harry Ricketts launches memoir THWUP

Wednesday: Review of Robyn Maree Pickens – Tung
On why I subscribe to Claire Mabey’s Domestic Animals at Substack

Thursday: James Norcliffe on ‘My thoughts are all of swimming‘ by Rose Collins
Compound Press launches Schaeffer Lemalu

Friday: Louise Wallace – ‘Even if we don’t know its name: On poetic form in romesh dissanayake’s novel When I open the shop‘

A poem

On a drive to an appointment this week I was reminded how awe inspiring the world can be, whether sky or harbour or bakery. Poetry settles like snow dust wherever I look, shifting in light and texture, on the move, in sleepy haze, miraculously warming.

appointment

 

memorise the light breaking through dark clouds
memorise the wind surfers catching the storm

memorise the tattered jacket on the stooping man
memorise the island its arms outstretched

memorise the bread and pastries at Wild Wheat
memorise the soundtrack on the journey home

 

Paula Green