The Tuesday Poem

Tuesday Poem -- 24 November 2015 -- Maggie Rainey-Smith's 'Ngawhatu'

Today we have a wonderfully personal poem by Maggie Rainey-Smith. Ngawhatu  takes us on the road to this mysterious place -- a place unspoken when you were kids... 

Jennifer Compton, the TP Editor this week, heard Maggie read this poem at the Poetry Conference and Litcrawl recently, and she shares her own thoughts as well, beginning with her first encounter with this poem: 

What a stunner. I was very much taken with it. I loved the old school vernacular, and the old school mindset. And of course, the poem meant just that little bit more to me because my husband's mother was the deputy matron of Ngawhatu for quite a long time. My husband spent his school holidays in her cottage on the grounds. 

Please do take time to go the page and read more from both Maggie and Jennfer --  this poem is a warm, personal reflection that stays with you. 

Also, worth mentioning here is that Maggie Rainey-Smith's new novel, Daughters of Messene, has just been released by Makaro Press (who also published Jennifer's novella Mr Clean &  the Junkie earlier this year!) -- last night the book was launched by Fiona Kidman in Wellington. 

Congratulations to Maggie Rainey-Smith, and thank you, Jennifer Compton, for sharing this poem this week!

Please also check out all other TP contributors this week as well, who have poems posted on their poetry sites. They can be found on the sidebar at the TP site.