blackmail press 21
Raewyn Alexander
New Zealand

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crossed cultures - special issue
From a town surrounded by cows to a blue house by the NW motorway in Grey
Lynn, Raewyn Alexander's enjoyed observing people.  She's had novels, poems,
stories and articles published in New Zealand and some overseas.  A poem in
an anthology this year, Poetry Pudding (Reed).  Her latest poetry collection
is Grey Lynn Land of Bright Stars (Bright Spark Books).  More info.,

Links:
www.bookcouncil.org.nz/writers/alexanderraewyn.html

www.myspace.com/raewynalexander

Yoko Ono Appeared in the Supermarket

cross legged mid-aisle reciting poetry
blinked out faster than an infra-red scan
haunted me past worry beads of frozen peas

conceptual cool as a star artist
sunglasses inside those five syllable words
the elegance of a prize heifer

when I found the carpark breezy
I wanted to fly in a plastic bag balloon
land on her lawn and admire the sundial

a sweep across my plans
soundlessness somewhere in mind
me framed by the lie of a new room

glimpses of fame flipping in Zen moments
white cullottes for a walk through a maze
to enjoy the celebrity air of centre





Returned from Britain I brought back

an English newspaper
split into sections for each writer friend
t-shirts and bookmarks
from a huge gift shop at the airport
photographs of a 500 year old interior
where I saw a making-the-peace dolls' house
the daughter still refused to collect

when the plane landed I undid my plaits
took from beneath my clothes the pounamu pendant I kept
next to my skin to the other side of the world and back

I bought back my failing knees
I bought back pacing these cages of ideas
I bought back sounds of foreign accents
in my stories
I bought back all the places
I miss you


Featured Artist Fiona Holding