Monday, January 18, 2010

Killer Poetry

While crunching away on a piece of home made sour dough bread toast with butter and raspberry jam this morning, I was blown away to see the Monday poem in the Otago Daily Times. Immortalised in poetry!

It is reproduced below, with the kind permission of its lovely author...

Garden Plots

by Ruth Arnison

A lunchtime walk, winter brisk. Gloves, hats
and foggy words kept us warm

Lights at the Gardens intersection overridden
by police. Observing our

pedestrian status they stopped traffic, waved
us across like ducklings strayed

onto a busy road. Embarrassed we scurried,
middle-aged,ungainly

At the drinking fountain, the pipes were
frozen, our midday thirst

unquenched. Over the bridge, we took the
lower path to Dundas St

You know, she said, I can't walk here
on my own. Not since -

Vanda, I prompted. Yeh, she said, I think
it was down there, the murder

A jogger brushed passed us, we shivered
and moved on

She's writing another one, she said. It's not
right, authors taking over

the city. Soon we'll be walking all over
their plots

.

7 comments:

Erin said...

awesome!!!!!

The Paradoxical Cat said...

Haha! I saw that this morning!

I pointed out the Aramoana spit to somebody and said, that's where Vanda wrecked a container ship.

I can almost see it... And the body count is mounting up.

You're rewriting local memories :-)

Mary McCallum said...

fantastic!! go Vanda!!!

zipperty-doo-dah said...

I know what she means Vanda, I still can't walk past the Leith without looking to see if I can see where the body was.... Belynda

Sue McMillan said...

I know how she feels. I walked past that same spot on a romantic tryst with hubby and shuddered!
Also, we have just come back from Invercrgill by way of Mataura. Taking the back road from Wyndham we drove along the side of MatauraI River. "That's where the body was found," I crowed!
You must be stoked with the poem, Vanda.

Claire Beynon said...

Good on you, Vanda. Good on you, Ruth.

octopusgrrl said...

Wonderful poem! And of course you've ruined Andy Bay Rd for me now, can't drive along it without expecting elephants in the rear view :)