Catlins, South Island, New Zealand
This is an out-of-the-way corner
of a purposely out-of-date little world,
but it’s enough, against expectations:
as last year’s growth suffices
the tree fern for trunk,
resting firm on its own yearly death.
This is where the growth of land stops,
confounding mapmakers, expecting
‘Terra Australis Incognita’
to balance the Northern hemisphere’s land mass.
Rata and rimu run straight down to the sea
with no boundary of dunes. The surf turns blues
from turquoise to veins’ interior
in the expectant second from crest to drop.
of a purposely out-of-date little world,
but it’s enough, against expectations:
as last year’s growth suffices
the tree fern for trunk,
resting firm on its own yearly death.
This is where the growth of land stops,
confounding mapmakers, expecting
‘Terra Australis Incognita’
to balance the Northern hemisphere’s land mass.
Rata and rimu run straight down to the sea
with no boundary of dunes. The surf turns blues
from turquoise to veins’ interior
in the expectant second from crest to drop.
Donna Dickenson is Professor of Medical Ethics and Humanities at Birkbeck, University of London. As well as her academic writing, she has published biographies, poetry and radio plays. She is now working on a novel.
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