for Rae Varcoe
today I took your book to the beach
tore up the pages
flung words into
gasping pink foam
and watched the tide
bring them back.
then I scattered your words
among orphaned shells in rock pools
couching the slow suction
of salt water,
saw the small crabs
scurrying to build them into houses.
I turned them into paper planes
threw them at indignant seagulls
tangled strings of them
on burnt pohutakawa tongues
it was no use,
they always came back.
at last I dug a deep hole
in dunes, reaching
to the very core of the hill.
I stamped on, burnt
the body of your words,
poured the ashes
into the heart of the hole,
filled it in with sand
and sat on it.
your words came up again
as lupin seeds,
rounded embryos
in a sac
held beating
against the sun.
7.30 pm Ohope Beach
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