Category: 2014

2014 Introduction 2014 Contents 2014 Contributors  

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 Blue laws   Fine 1 Request for magic to cure illness or to reveal a thief’s identity $5 2 Landing someone on Rarotonga who has a sickness $30 3 Owning of or playing cards $10 4 If a man has…

Waiting for Baba   Today Baba must come. Once every month, she arrives at noon, she comes, how do you say, alone, by herself, to collect the rent, and to prevent any payment of any kind of taxes.   Of course that is illegal. Baba said, ‘where do you boys…

Waiata of Secret Wings (inspired by Māori creation myths)   Alone is the void – te pō alone and void the taste of it; alone and void the touch, the smell the hearing and the seeing of things unseen; the dark sleeping void of the unborn world’s still dream. Alone…

Gaps, Gifts and the Grind: Reflections on the Writing Process   Last year I wrote a memoir, and this year I finished it off – well nearly. I’m having a little gap from working on it at the moment. And having a ‘little’ gap, I’ve discovered, is part of my…

The Ride   Chloe loves the ride home from work. Zooming down the Brooklyn Hill is a great way to blow the day away, and because she is on her bike, there are no traffic jams to wind her up again. She likes the way she feels. Today is a…

Three Questions   Q. Kia ora. Firstly, I was wondering where you get your ideas? A. There’s this flat in Seddon Street. It has a long gravel drive fenced off with sheets of iron on both sides. Outside the front steps a dandelion and a metal bin, straight inside the…

1 | 2 Halo around the sun    The librarian’s face is a lagoon. My hesitation sends a wave across the water. How long will you stay? she asks. When did you arrive?   * It is three days since my ei proclaimed me as a visitor, creamy flowers scenting…

1 | 2 Lavanda per Viviana   terra   Viviana watches lavender for the first strike of colour, waits for heads to fill with petals. Late in ripeness she takes her garden scissors, severs the stalks, walks away unable to hide the loss.   aria   Viviana breathes lavender in…

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 Sunday morning, city cafe   Busy place. Alone with coffee, music, glances. People on the pavement pass, their shadows meet.  Strutting pigeons, tossed crumbs.   A fan belt squeal, indicator and high revs, the driver tousles her hair in the mirror,…