Hi Max best of luck with the plan when do you set off??cheers P
Ps would you now take the dogs with you??
-----Original Message-----
From: Poetryetc: poetry and poetics [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
Behalf Of Max Richards
Sent: 06 May 2015 16:36
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: 'Thumb Indexing'
Thumb Indexing
In youth I formed a plan:
I'd cover on foot the length
and breadth of my homeland
earning my way as I went
by knocking on doors: please
hire me to convert dictionaries
on the spot for a small sum
so they'll open by thumb
to the exact page desired.
A to Z! Thumb-indexed books
had hand-sculptured good looks.
Surely everyone admired
reference books? Bibles too
I thought they'd hire me
to improve. From Gen to Rev
in gilt tabs inspired me.
With such offerings I'd work
my way from town to town.
North from Auckland, I'd walk
to the top tip and back down.
Zigzagging to Wellington
might take years even hitch-hiking.
Despite the country's mountains
I leaned towards push-biking.
The South I'd keep for summers,
popping home at times by rail
and ferry, fixing my hammers
and chisels at Uncle Dale's.
Sleepless nights in springtime
I thought it through complete.
I'd start when I was fifteen -
meantime keep it secret
from family and timid folk.
I practiced tyre repairs
on my first cheap bike,
traded it in for one with gears
(leaving me short for cash),
studied maps, gradients
and mileages, coast, bush,
camping tucker, cheap ingredients.
Chisels I pondered, fingering
them on Uncle's workbench,
puzzled about their sharpening,
postponing the crunch
when all got set in motion.
Shyly one day I requested
a simple explanation
of how he'd do it. Blast it! -
it took (he said) machines
to gouge grooves like that.
Punctured, I felt my dreams
gouged - unrepairably flat.
Yet the rest of my plan
remained unwavering:
I'd pedal from home
steadily covering -
discovering - my country
length and breadth.
On the road! shy
no longer, a wealth
of adventure before me,
every side road explored
every sunset savored,
every day quite free.
Every beach, creek, pond
or lake that took my fancy
I'd skinny-dip in,
getting the best over-all tan!
Maybe some girl my size
and age would care, dare
to join me, admire
my single-mindedness.
Maori? That might be ideal
If she had Maori wisdom -
language, places, river, hill -
already always at home.
We wouldn't need clothes
except amongst others.
We'd sleep together
like sister and brother.
I dreamed long beaches,
shellfish, driftwood fires,
combing her long tresses;
at long last, shared caresses.
How soon? - sixteen might
be better - seventeen? Fate
closes in - train for a job
or never get ahead.
I needed a girl without
ties, duties, eyes for anyone
but me. Tall order! - but
I could see her standing on
some roadside near Whangarei
Whakatane Wanganui
or down Wairarapa way,
then mapping with me
our epic journey
discovering our country,
writing down everywhere
for place names were poetry.=
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