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Pohutukawa bloomed everywhere
that year
I didn't know
so many trees were
hiding the secret
of red tassels
tipped in gold
in the city

They're the wrong variety
said a fellow expat
In the early days
we were so concerned
with distinctions like these
The only native bird
in the city
the scrappy tui

Out here though
I thought I knew
what we were buying into
I still don't have a clue
what a tawa looks like
but I know
kowhai is yellow
and how they bloom
like cherry blossom
on bare trees in Spring

I know
how the fat kereru strip the leaves
in Fall
how the Tui drink nectar
in Spring
how the ephemeral faintail
dances between

I was so precious
about this land
to think it so
authentic
but these tender ferns would die
without the irrigation system
that takes more than our
fair share of water
in dry February
every year 
they are imposters here 
too

 

6 March 2016