My Countrywoman

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Reading 'Wildes Licht' I came across Meg Campbell’s poem ‘My Countrywoman’. I’d read it years ago but this reading made me realise I had underestimated it. It’s a good poem.

She is the Kiwi, the Dodo-bird
of the South Seas, weak-eyed,
with heavy legs and arse
and beak that doubles as a weapon –
pecking sharpens her mind.
Violent and amiable, both, she is
often seen at shopping centres
flanked by kids and elderly mother.
Sometimes she is seen in undergrowth
of jumble sales or Church bazaar,
pressing to the front, her money
extended to buy the tastiest cake.
In the bedroom at night, she sports
tiny wings – the curious remnant
of her long-lost flight.

Meg Campbell