Anne Marie Te Whiu

17 Jenner Road

Beachville

Nelson 7010

30 March 1984

Kia ora Keri,

I’ve just walked in.  The bus trip home was pretty awful. 

I sat behind a couple who were silent-fighting the whole way. 

I guess that was better than them loud-arguing. 

The bus got a flat tyre in Westport, so we were delayed by about an hour.

All of this made the ache of leaving you even more difficult.

I will be brief as I know you’re in the middle of such important writing.

There are two things I had to share with you. 

Firstly, to thank you for opening your whare to me. 

A weekend I will remember for returning to myself and being with you.

I smell of you – tobacco and whitebait and beer sings through my skin.

I loved every minute with you, in your place, at your pace.

And secondly, I wanted to let you know, I read the part of The Bone People

manuscript that you shared with me, on the bus. 

I had to stop about half way through because of motion sickness. 

I’ll devour the other half tonight in bed. 

K, it is full of contradictions – my favourite style of writing.  And people.

It is sparse and full all at once

            shapeless and totally contained

                        wild and almost unkept

                                    yet still and perfect

                                                directive and open

                                                            sweet and wild

Your words clip my ears and run their hands through my hair.

Ngaa mihi e hoa for sharing your mahi with me in this way. 

My door is open.  Please do visit me soon if you can.

Yours,

Ani x 

Anne-Marie Te Whiu (Te Rarawa) is a writer, weaver, facilitator, editor, cultural producer and festival director having co-directed the Queensland Poetry Festival from 2015-2017. She is a recipient of The Wheeler Centre 2021 Next Chapter Fellowship. She is the editor of Tony Birch’s poetry collection Whisper Songs & co-edited Solid Air – Australian & New Zealand Spoken Word. Her collections, These Are The Bodies I Have Found and Mettle will be released in 2023 . For further details go to https://www.anne-marietewhiu.com/