up Huashan
he toted
a
sort of ersatz Stetson
unavailable anywhere
&
puffed a
vain
cigar,
carelessly
caressing
our nostrils
as acrid strokes;
his stubble face
a sort of beacon–
you know the sort–
ruddy ready for midnight travellers
caught unawares
by the existence of nothing
-just as we were, in fact.
the striped
short-sleeved
shirt
had to have
been a
free gift
for every man in Shaanxi,
while his
hair was too black
to be black;
as he spat
his life at
the no roadside
in
syn co pate chunks,
clutching
1
yuan
for the map,
20 years out of date
but
twice as young
as he.
Rapatahana is a New Zealand Maori, married to a lady from Pampanga, where they have a home. Lived and worked in Asia for years—including five in Brunei Darussalam, one in PR China (Xi'an), six on and off in Hong Kong—plus several other places worldwide. Published throughout Asia—Malaysia, Thailand, Hong Kong, Philippines, Aotearoa (N.Z), and Australia. Longlisted for Proverse Prize in Literature, 2009. Author of English Through Poetry series, User Friendly Resources, Christchurch, N.Z. Rapatahana is also published in U.K. and USA and his third poetry collection is to appear in early 2011. He has a Ph.D in Existential Philosophy and is also poetry editor of The Maori and Indigenous (MAI) Review Journal.
he toted
a
sort of ersatz Stetson
unavailable anywhere
&
puffed a
vain
cigar,
carelessly
caressing
our nostrils
as acrid strokes;
his stubble face
a sort of beacon–
you know the sort–
ruddy ready for midnight travellers
caught unawares
by the existence of nothing
-just as we were, in fact.
the striped
short-sleeved
shirt
had to have
been a
free gift
for every man in Shaanxi,
while his
hair was too black
to be black;
as he spat
his life at
the no roadside
in
syn co pate chunks,
clutching
1
yuan
for the map,
20 years out of date
but
twice as young
as he.
Rapatahana is a New Zealand Maori, married to a lady from Pampanga, where they have a home. Lived and worked in Asia for years—including five in Brunei Darussalam, one in PR China (Xi'an), six on and off in Hong Kong—plus several other places worldwide. Published throughout Asia—Malaysia, Thailand, Hong Kong, Philippines, Aotearoa (N.Z), and Australia. Longlisted for Proverse Prize in Literature, 2009. Author of English Through Poetry series, User Friendly Resources, Christchurch, N.Z. Rapatahana is also published in U.K. and USA and his third poetry collection is to appear in early 2011. He has a Ph.D in Existential Philosophy and is also poetry editor of The Maori and Indigenous (MAI) Review Journal.
