dear John Piper
by Penny Somervaille
dear John Piper
on Christmas Day
I take a walk
into your painting
down the lane across the fields towards the village
the church spire rises above cottages
white washing flaps on a line
I turn right towards the church,
go and sit outside a cafe
out of sight now
I sit down
have some crusty bread
cheese and wine
watch the people come and go
an old man comes to sit beside me
he asks where I have come from
but he already knows me
we do not need to talk.
just sit in the pale winter sun
watch our hands
as they break the bread
cut the cheese
this watching conceals my real interest
the old man
who is a stranger and
so familiar I am wearing him
I think about that
the strangeness
the familiarity
POET PROFILE
Penny Somervaille grew up and was educated in England, coming to NZ in 1957 where she met and married a New Zealander. She had three adult children and two adult grandchildren. Penny wrote what she called ‘stuff’ for a long time, but only took it more seriously in 2000 when she enrolled at the University of Auckland and completed a BA some years later. She mostly read her work as opposed to publishing it: ‘I write to find out what I think, or to comment on what I read or hear.’ She had a longstanding association with Poetry Live in Auckland, and in 2014 Pennyroyal Press published her collection Small Decisions.