On the way back from Akaroa (or, My Hilly Heart)

What is straight? A line can be straight, or a street, but the human heart, oh, no, it’s curved like a road through mountains.



A Streetcar Named Desire, Tennessee Williams

As you navigate your way
through the seemingly never-
ending and meandering roads,
speeding at 100kmh around the coast,
or negotiating the tricky, richly
vegetated inland tracks,
your eyes intensely absorb the views –

the broadness of the flat land
and its geometric patchwork
of various greens and browns
speckled with the white and brown
of grazing sheep and cattle,

the hills and mountains
that form an ersatz chalice into which
the clear sea spills, temporarily
obscuring its immensity;

and I wonder,
are you there yet –
will you get there?

The journey appears endless
but it is not all devoid of beauty;
and from time to time,
you stop to capture memories.

Yes, it is a rather scenic route,
and many far wiser had said much
in favor of the journey
over the arrival at one’s destination;

but, my love,
however much you enjoy the sights
and this picturesque journey,
please do not forget your destination.

The road may not always be easy
(at times it is admittedly rough)
and yes, it is never straight –
some stretches even treacherously difficult –
but do not give up before you get there:

I am waiting for you
right there –
here at the center of
my heart.



30^th March – 1^st April 2005