What we do


At the small-town pool in between flutter kicks, rock climbing, cycling, jumping Jacks and Jills, and plain aqua jogging, we catch up. Nine o’clock, the instructor says, and already I’ve birthed two ewes, milked the cow, inoculated the lambs, fed the calves, the horses, the hens and myself, not to mention repelling the calf that thinks I’m his mother. A classmate says, I’ve vacuumed the house, made the beds, washed and hung the washing and started painting the spare room.

                       I’ve written 
                       a poem, I say,
                       and they say, Really?



Diane Brown

I’ve chosen ‘What we do’ because it is about two of my favourite activities, firstly, writing poems which adds great richness to my life, and secondly, jumping around in an aqua-fit class with friendly people from a wide variety of backgrounds. I wrote this a while ago while living in Alexandra for a year when my husband had the Henderson House residency. It will be published in March 2027 by Otago University Press in my collection, Not a Matter of Calm. DB

Diane Brown runs Creative Writing Dunedin. Her eight published books range over poetry, novels, and memoirs. Every Now and Then I Have Another Child, was published by Otago University Press, in 2020. Her forthcoming book, a hybrid collection of poetry and prose, Not a matter of calm, will be published by Otago University Press in March 2027.