Description
“I give the first of my catch back to Tangaroa,
not knowing if the shadow below
is hammerhead or taniwha,
not knowing if I anger or appease him
if tonight is the night I will catch an island.”
— from ‘Wayfinder’
“Her big, sassy hips sway past.
Move on, move on …
She is carrying a peach balloon to a party
that happened long ago.
Never mind, never mind …”
— from ‘Cows crossing’
About the author
Any reader of the literary journals of the late 1960s and ’70s would have noted the name Jan Coad. Hone Tuwhare certainly did, and James K. Baxter, from both of whom Jan received admiration and friendship. In 2005, writing under her married name of FitzGerald, Jan launched her long-gestated collection, Flying Against the Arrow (Wolfdale Press). This was followed by On a Day Like This (Steele Roberts Aotearoa, 2010).
All the while, the poet was quietly maturing as an artist, and in this collection, for the first time, the two talents perform a happy tango.
