Deferring A WALL #4 Update — Plus A Seasonal Poem
A poem that’s seasonal for the Southern Hemisphere, at any rate — but first, the WALL (#4) update. Or rather, the deferring thereof (as am “pretty sure” I’m due one.)
However, not only is it the season of frenetic and ridiculously busy, but I’m in the throes of writing the final boss fight between Malian (& friends) and the Big Bads, so prefer to wait on updates until it’s a wrap. Hence, deferral!
In the meantime, with only three sleeps to go now, here’s a poem that speaks to the Kiwi (NZ) Christmas experience. (Although we could do with a bit more of the sunshine, right now, as well as the chillaxing.)
Be well, and safe, in your end of year and your travels, everyone!
~*~
Christmastide
Christmas—and we
like so many others
are washed north
on a tide of summer,
our route signposted
by pohutakawa,
all flowering late
against a mirage
of cabbage trees,
dusty in the heat
that shimmers
above melting tar—
the whole country baking
as the nation makes
its annual pilgrimage
of Christmas and New Year:
“Good to see ya,” we say,
or simply “Mate”, pouring out
a cool one before we sit
down together, buoyant
with the sunshine
and the colour,
the high tide of summer.
© Helen Lowe
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