On a Tuesday in the Stadium

Transcription

1 On a Tuesday in the Stadium by Sandra Lock the celtic copper hair kaia stands, in the middle. on either side, bronze skin sentinels; poker-faced carbon copy sisters with black braided hair. poised in place Whiti, Whiti enters the empty air, Emma, slants her head to the right and quavers her hand at her brow, her Taiwanese Mum and Australian Dad, look on. miniature six year olds, dust the ends of rows their piupiu skirts sway Hasi from Sri Lanka, wearing moko on her chin, sings and boys at the back, come alive pounding the floor, slapping their chest echoing the girls below the stage, families cry out cheers and hold back, tears. 1 st PLACE WINNER ADULT Category

2 A marriage In memory of Diana T., née Ng by Nicola Thorstensen The shadow of the poll tax does not fall here. Infants inky fingers express no reproach. No one is an alien in their own land. Against a backdrop of hard-won tolerance, your family kept a low profile, wrapped humility and assimilation with the fish and chips. Born a second daughter, you strove to make amends. You must work hard, marry well. Your sister led the way. But you align yourself with a western god, let the ancestors go hungry, and fall in love with a white ghost. You feel you are unworthy of him. You run a mile. Love nips always at your heels, chases you down, brings you back. Now on this china-blue morning, a scarred Pakeha hand takes a small Chinese one. Two people exchange vows, repudiate history, swap pain for joy. Walk forward together, in step. 2 nd PLACE WINNER ADULT Category

3 Unity by Rosie Jo Barnes The day I realised I was fragments was the day I turned two years old. Some part of me splintered and fell away, and I felt my small body run cold. I held the little piece of myself and thought "how long 'till the last one falls? If I keep dropping them behind me, soon there'll be nothing left at all." I became obsessed with staying together, my skin ran tacky with clumps of glue. It took twelve more years to realise that everyone else is fragments too. Nothing's ever perfect, so many things we don't understand. Our palms are full with bits of soul small as grains of sand. The truth is that its pointless to stay together on some dusty, high-up shelf, when you could give away parts that are much more useful in the hands (and heart) of someone else. And you will, of course, receive, and find new pieces to make your own. You'll find them on park benches, at lonely bus stops, you'll take them home. I know it's a funny moral: we've got to break apart to be together. But when we're all holding pieces of each others souls, aren't we united forever? 1 st PLACE WINNER Teen Category

4 The World and I by Arwen van pallandt Clusters of cells under the grey sky, Wearing down the sidewalk Connecting with calls and conversations A spider web of contacts mimicked by the vast web of cracks in the pavement The crispy spirals of leaves, Like the DNA structure making up my body A mirror of the New York fire escapes spiralling alongside brick apartments A perfumed cloud of particles stops High heeled feet pausing to smell the flower shop roses Her skirt folded and flounced brushing the frilly petals of the carnations Mother Earth's tears soaking the asphalt A reflection of an old man's pain as he weeps into his hands These sympathetic and physical connections Such a full, wholesome sense of unity 2 nd PLACE WINNER Teen Category

5 THE Three Friends (a poem about working in unity) by Gabriella Anna Smith There were three flowers, the Cherry Blossom, The Lily and the Plum Blossom. Now Lily was a fine and beautiful flower, And Cherry Blossom was strong and filled with power, Plum Blossom was pretty, sweet and fair, And when she sang, the birds danced through the air. But one day, when the Lily was in the water, A current came by and swiftly caught her. Oh no Cherry Blossom cried, Lily is drowning! We must go save her! Then Plum Blossom came to help her out of the water, Quick use this rope, and with this we can save her I dearly hope. Help, Lily cried I shall go under, deep in the river were I can t be found. Plum blossom threw the rope into the water, Cherry blossom looped it around Lily and safely caught her. Lily was saved by some flowers that worked together, And from that day onward they were friends forever. 1 st PLACE WINNER Child Category

6 The Universe s Unity by Ava Sadie Schaumann In the universe the Milky Way spins around the universe like whirlpools in the ocean In the Milky Way the solar system spins around the Milky Way like Plankton caught in currents In the solar system the sun is trapped like a lost Island with stormy waves crashing upon its shoreline Around our only Sun the earth spins like a dolphin somersaulting out of the water Around the earth the moon spins around like the surf gently twisting before gracefully swirling back down And every one those things are balanced In perfect Unity. 2 nd PLACE WINNER Child Category