{"id":9603,"date":"2011-11-08T06:30:44","date_gmt":"2011-11-07T17:30:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/?p=9603"},"modified":"2011-11-07T17:25:53","modified_gmt":"2011-11-07T04:25:53","slug":"tuesday-poem-the-wait-by-barbara-strang","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/2011\/11\/08\/tuesday-poem-the-wait-by-barbara-strang\/","title":{"rendered":"Tuesday Poem: “The Wait” by Barbara Strang"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Wait<\/h3>\n

Over the channel
\nthis morning
\nyou can see them<\/p>\n

the godwits on the spit
\nin a wiry huddle
\nlike greyhounds in waiting.<\/p>\n

kuaka eastern bar-tailed godwit<\/em><\/p>\n

The sand is high this year
\nthe sun needling the fog
\nas they wait<\/p>\n

for a signal,
\nthe days to draw in
\nthe constellations
\nto configure.<\/p>\n

The commonest of the migratory arctic waders
\n<\/em>
\nThe moa, giant eagle,
\nyou outlasted them,
\nyou saw a nameless river
\nsweeping by basalt cliffs<\/p>\n

and the first men
\nswinging through the channel
\nin a long canoe.<\/p>\n

Then tall vessels
\nand small, you saw
\ntheir shrouds shiver in the wind<\/p>\n

you saw them cross the bar,
\nheard the retort of axe
\nand scream of fire.<\/p>\n

Flocks often fly in long lines or chevrons, emitting
\na clear excited kew-kew<\/em><\/p>\n

Over the channel
\nthis morning
\nyou can see them<\/p>\n

like arrows
\naiming
\nfor the sun.<\/p>\n

.<\/span><\/p>\n

(c) Barbara Strang<\/p>\n

~ published in The Corrosion Zone<\/span>, HeadworX, 2011<\/p>\n

Reproduced here by permission.<\/p>\n

—<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>On September 20 I featured, Indigo,<\/em> another poem from The Corrosion Zone<\/span>, here<\/a>, and discussed how much I had enjoyed the collection.<\/p>\n

I am featuring The Wait<\/em> today for several reasons. One is that there are so many fine poems in The Corrosion Zone<\/span> that I am pleased to have the opportunity to share my enjoyment of them with blog readers. And\u00a0 The Wait <\/em>is a very fine poem, capturing Barbara’s unique eye for detailed observation of and interest in the natural world. It also captures what I believe to be two of the themes of The Corrosion Zone<\/span> as a collection, which are transition and continuity—in this case, both geographic and temporal.<\/p>\n

Another reason that I have asked Barbara’s permission to feature The Wait<\/em> today is because tomorrow The Corrosion Zone<\/span> is to enjoy its long awaited, but earthquake deferred, launch—and as I said in Sunday’s post<\/a>, I am delighted to have been asked by Barbara to officially launch the book.<\/p>\n

For those of you who can make it along, the event will start 5.30 pm<\/strong> at the Christchurch Polytechnic Students\u2019 Association<\/strong> venue at 5 Madras Street<\/strong>, on the Christchurch Polytechnic campus.<\/p>\n

The launch will be followed by the CPC event with Bill Manhire<\/a>, Steve Thomas<\/a>, <\/strong>and Dina Durrer<\/strong> (with $5 entry for this event; Barbara\u2019s book launch is free.)<\/p>\n

—<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>To read the featured poem on the Tuesday Poem Hub<\/strong> and other great poems from fellow Tuesday poets around the world, click here<\/strong><\/a> or on the Quill<\/strong> icon<\/strong> in the sidebar.<\/p>\n

\n
The Wait<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
Over the channel<\/span><\/div>\n
this morning<\/span><\/div>\n
you can see them<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
the godwits on the spit<\/span><\/div>\n
in a wiry huddle<\/span><\/div>\n
like greyhounds in waiting.<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
kuaka eastern bar-tailed godwit<\/span><\/em><\/div>\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
The sand is high this year<\/span><\/div>\n
the sun needling the fog <\/span><\/div>\n
as they wait <\/span><\/div>\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
for a signal,<\/span><\/div>\n
the days to draw in<\/span><\/div>\n
the constellations <\/span><\/div>\n
to configure.<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
The commonest of the migratory arctic waders<\/span><\/em><\/div>\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
The moa, giant eagle, <\/span><\/div>\n
you outlasted them, <\/span><\/div>\n
you saw a nameless river<\/span><\/div>\n
sweeping by basalt cliffs<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
and the first men <\/span><\/div>\n
swinging through the channel<\/span><\/div>\n
in a long canoe.<\/span><\/div>\n

\n<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
Then tall vessels<\/span><\/div>\n
and small, you saw <\/span><\/div>\n
their shrouds shiver in the wind<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
you saw them cross the bar,<\/span><\/div>\n
heard the retort of axe <\/span><\/div>\n
and scream of fire.<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
Flocks often fly in long lines or chevrons, emitting <\/span><\/em><\/div>\n
a clear excited kew-kew <\/span><\/em><\/div>\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
Over the channel<\/span><\/div>\n
this morning<\/span><\/div>\n
you can see them <\/span><\/div>\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
like arrows <\/span><\/div>\n
aiming <\/span><\/div>\n
for the sun.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Wait Over the channel this morning you can see them the godwits on the spit in a wiry huddle like greyhounds in waiting. kuaka eastern bar-tailed godwit The sand is high this year the sun needling the fog as they wait for a signal, the days to draw in the constellations to configure. The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9603","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-poetry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9603","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9603"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9603\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9613,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9603\/revisions\/9613"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9603"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9603"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9603"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}