2-Poem #8 - To Mangaweka - Michael O'Leary

To Mangaweka
Signposts to the unknown . . .
A marae covered with a blue tarpaulin
And a fence made of lawnmower sculptures
The Space Runner goods express waits in the loop for us to pass
Derelict farm machinery, cars and ruins of old houses, skeletal and broken
Viaducts and deep ravened rivers, white cliffs and small, unnamed towns
Through the cutting the land is rugged and wet
Browns, greens, and the milky-grey sky
where the sun tries to make a break-through



Taihape
Two magpies attacking a hawk, and pukekos
Standing nonchalantly by the track
Another hawk circling the train in the rain . . .
(where once I, futuristically, held you in my arms, you wearing your beautiful black dress – tonight I hold you in my memory) . . . and inland seagulls play
Corrugated gumboot kicks out
and the train travels high above the township
Logs, fenceposts and planks of wood stacked high at the local timber yards
a stand of yellow willows and rock outcrops