Tuesday Poem: "Nerves" by Sarah Jane Barnett

The bridge has been
washed out,


the river bank

camouflaged with debris.

Last Waitangi Day

I saw a soldier buried

in the crowd -

his face gave nothing away.

Your lips sticky after kai

teach me a new language,

ka mate ahau

I te aroha e.

That night I dream

my family has arrived

for Christmas,

with the military police.

Arms cuffed

I am pulled from our bed,

held in an austere room

and made to explain

my position.

  

This poem originally appeared in Deep South '07.

Sarah Jane Barnett is a writer, tutor and doctoral student who lives in Wellington. Her work has appeared in a range of literary journals including Landfall and Sport, and on the e-zines Cordite, Snorkel and Turbine. Her poem, “The Drop Distance”, was selected for Best New Zealand Poems 2007.

Sarah is currently completing a creative writing PhD in the field of ecopoetics. You can find more of her work at http://theredroom.org.