Coming to New Zealand
I am learning different wordsfor things I have always knownBirds remain anonymousin unnamed trees
Towns I travel to stretch outin unfamiliar gridswith billowing hills betweenlush with mangrove and with giant fern
I am learning the history and customsof Godzone, and only partly out of books
Taking the train betweenPapakura and the BayI hear recorded voices resurrectold tales and vanished glories
Adventurously the wheels turn roundbefore they trundle upto dislocated stationsHere I am forcedto think myself anew, can feel my soul make counter-revolutionsin this strange hemisphere, under new stars:“the wrench of beyond”In my line of descent, mundanely English,there are no Maori heroes, no pioneers.
I walk a landuncharted by my kin,discovering mostly that the road is there
Occasionally I stumble, fallinto scrub and bushland, or tread heavy throughthe warm constricting mudof thermal springs.
I think of kiwis, those unlikely birdsthat hide away by day, dare not to fly, birds timid and tenacious
Perhaps I had to cross the continentsto find a different self, wary and bold,like these electric skies,abundant, elastic.
© Jenny Argante
The Library Story
"Libraries!" snorted Liz. "A conspiracy! Open all hours so people can idle their time away reading That's Life! and North and South instead of getting on with their work. They've even started charging us!""You don't use the library? I thought ..." I stared at the books on the table, all neatly spine-labelled."Norman needed some help with his gardening, now he's gone organic. So I got The Green Guide out for him, that's all. Oh, and a book on growing vegetables the lasagna method and another on composting and ... " She fidgeted under my gaze."And the large print books?""They're for mother. You know her eyes aren't as good as they used to be.""And the music CDs?""I've got to have something to take my mind off things. I'm on the go all evening as soon as I get home and then I sit down ... " She stopped."And watch a video?" I had noticed Whale Rider and Topsy-Turvy next to the DVD player."I'm a ratepayer," Liz snapped. "I'm allowed to use the library occasionally."I raised an eyebrow, and she laughed. Lizzie's got a sense of humour though she hides it well. She unloaded PB Bear from the PC then picked up her bodice-ripper."Blaze of Desire?" I queried."Well, you've seen my Norman."I nodded, understanding perfectly why anyone would prefer the well-muscled, nicely-tanned hunk on the cover.[This was for a competition to write a story about using the public library. I didn't win, but I did have fun doing it.]
