morning at bird’s clearing, golden bay
Emile Hofstede (IIML, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand)
.
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The mists crumple around the house like white tissue.
It’s a rough white morning on this mountain top.
.
It does not actually rain but everything drips.
Only things tied down, like me, remain.
.
I sit on my duvet surrounded by quiet walls —
on one, hangs a picture of a calm evening sea.
.
In a vase, wild arum lilies with curled cups
that on another day would drink sky,
.
today sit, like Mnemosyne, resting
against a window streaked with tears
.
and beyond that, a macrocarpa tree braces the elements,
just like The Jack Pine of Tom Thomson
.
standing strong against the rough winds of Ontario.
.
.
Emile Hofstede was born in Ontario, Canada. She is currently completeing her MA in Creative Writing at Victoria University, Wellington. Prior to that she obtained degrees in Ecology and Education and worked in both fields before leaving Canada. She has been a resident of Golden Bay, New Zealand since 2004.
