Mahinarangi Tocker

Supper with Irena


'do you want another?
'cos I don't want to go yet
I think there's a coat in the car
if you're cold.'

it's cool summer
in ponsonby cafes
we are tabled on stones
where walk the couples

men with men
in talks that look tight
and walk that smoothes
the footpath
crack

early january
late night
wine and coffee
to whet the tummy grumble
cake and cream
to guilt the thought fumble

i like you
i love you
she shares with me
her smile
and for a second
there is no one here
but us




Dedicated to Richard T


February 3rd
Tamaki Makaurau

take my eyes patterned
against your blue
i watch you dance the strings
so, dance the strings like you do
to
break a heart
but take it
to a new sound
kind man of Celtic breath
the soul
is rested

Saturday evening
Auckland autumn calling

play another & sing one more
we're listening
laugh some more & talk us
into believing

you take those parts
that have ached me cold
where ice sticks
and sing them into summer

a friend for a day
a memory for a lifetime




A Poem For You


i'm sitting here in this loud bird
this bird with no song
this bird-like waka
in this
this rumble of strangers
going to a sameness
where only our hearts are different
until i am landed
and i see more changes
and walk a different fear
and see a different colour
and breathe a different voice

my tears fall further
than she who watches amused
i know she wants to ask
but i won't tell
i cannot

i have nothing to say
even to myself
what is there left between right and wrong
fear and desire
when everything untouched screams to be held

i walk beneath a sun
but i am burnt in a darkness
i have not planned to understand
nor should i

and so i never shall

i will miss you without yelling
i will miss you without talking
i will miss you without you even knowing



*waka - a traditional Maori canoe




Mahinarangi Tocker is an acclaimed singer-songwriter. She was the first Maori woman invited to perform at the Vancouver Folk Festival, and has worked with international artists such as Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Clannad, Tracy Chapman, Shawn Colvin, and Richard Thompson. Her first book of poetry, Lyrics without melody, published by Street Women's Press was released in March 2001. She is one of the several artists who took part in the destigmatisation of mental illness in a television ad campaign in New Zealand called Like Minds, Like Mine.She is completing a collection of short stories.




Peter Olds Meg Campbell Kirin Cerise Simon Lewis Graham Bishop Mahinarangi Tocker