25 October 2010

Tuesday Poem: Take me back to the Bay, by Kerry Popplewell

Take me back to the Bay

1

Take me back to the Bay,
back to the Sixties too —
when what was to come
was certain to be
as bright and wide as the sea.

2

Dust tastes concrete-white;
feet flinch on riverbed and beach.
Heat haze deletes the hills.

Mushrooms erupt in damp paddocks
alongside the distraction of blackberry,
the leaf shoals on shingle roads.

There's a nip in late afternoon air,
snow on Kaweka. In August
bare willows burn orange.

Pink and tentative, flowers
put out feelers on fruit trees,
querying their cue.

Tim says:

"Take me back to the Bay" is reproduced, with permission, from Kerry Popplewell's first poetry collection Leaving the Tableland, published by Steele Roberts (2010) and available from the publisher or in selected bookshops for $19.99 (RRP).

My next post this week will be an interview with Kerry Popplewell.

You can read other poems from this collection which have previously been selected as Tuesday Poems, Portrait: Pahiatua, 1942 on Helen Rickerby's blog, and Leaving the Tableland on the Tuesday Poem hub blog.

Check out all the Tuesday Poems on the Tuesday Poem hub blog.

7 comments:

Kathleen Jones said...

I loved the image of the 'leaf shoals on shingle roads'. Look forward to the interview, Tim.

harvey said...

Tim
Thanks for another Popplewell poem. I enjoyed her collection and am delighted to see her getting recognition.
I like Kathleen look forward to your interview.
Harvey

Tim Jones said...

Helen Lowe and Harvey Molloy also posted comments, which Blogger ate when I tried to approve them! Here's what they had to say:

Helen: "Leaving the Tableland" is a great collection--and may I also point readers to the podcast interview with Kerry, here: http://plainsfm.org.nz/on-demand/woa-kerrypopplewell-27sept2010/

This was broadcast on Women on Air, Plains 96.9 FM a few weeks back.

Harvey: Thanks for another Popplewell poem. I enjoyed her collection and am delighted to see her getting recognition.
I like Kathleen look forward to your interview.

Tim Jones said...

Now I can say: Thanks for your comments, Kathleen, Harvey (McQueen), and Helen. It now looks as though I've posted Harvey's comment twice ... ah well ...

Helen's interview with Kerry is well worth listening to.

Helen Rickerby said...

Thanks Tim and Kerry. I add my voice to the chorus who is looking forward to the interview.

AJ Ponder said...

Very nostalgic, although for me it is the seventies. Still, it's nice feeling young for a change :)

Tim Jones said...

Thanks, Helen and AJ!