Saturday

is so nice

the smooth curves

dangerous swirl

advantageous

rest

a place in which to

and best

a party

or warm sand sea sun

fun

and no mins/hours/seconds

driving past sledgehammer

slow funeral

foreman managed

whip crack

to bend

beneath

Table Service

Her smile is legend.

She will get your coffee
just the way you like it.

Go back for sugar -
not regular, the raw kind,

or maybe coffee crystals
would be nice?

She will take your order,
make your order,

change your order
when you change your mind.

Her smile remains the same.

Your food arrives, drinks arrive,
anything else you want -

conversation, tact, discretion,
strokes your hackles down.

Do your ears tingle to the tune
of what you want to hear?

Underneath the servile care
she's always aware of the mean bone

that will complain about her service,
turn on her at the first slip

in the curve of her lips.

Penny Howard

The poem below was inspired by this wonderful picture by Penny Howard. This is one of a whole series of amazing images that explore the impact of European colonisation on the Pacific Islands, specifically Samoa.
See more of Penny's work here: http://www.facebook.com/penny.howard.9041/photos

she is painted in the traditional pose
an outline of cliche,

but within the silhouette
is a whare burning on the beach.

bound with threads of red
from a missionary's rosary,

beads of prayer to replace
korero of iwi,

the treasured stories of origin
evaporate like tea

from a broken porcelain tea service -
poor recompense for an acre of land