Andrea Malcolm – We think we may have a heart

Malcolm LE P&W April

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Live Encounters Aotearoa New Zealand Poets & Writers April 2023

We think we may have a heart, poem by Andrea Malcolm


We think we may have a heart

This is the phone; this is the voice
This is the pulse pulling through

the malaise, the soft thunderclap
to ear and brain, breeze to steel

the fading face, spark to fire,
from ashes escape. Seize this bag,

patient in the corner, sweep children
into the arms of friends and neighbours,

and drive it through in the heart
of night. It’s a lot like going to the hospital

for a child to be born. It’s a lot like
hearing a death bell
somewhere
in the village.


© Andrea Malcolm

Andrea Malcolm (Ātihaunui-a-Pāpārangi) has a background in journalism and communications and is a freelance writer living in northwest Tāmaki Makaurau (Auckland). She has had poetry published in Landfall, Takahē, the Spinoff, Tarot, and 26 Letters (an anthology), as part of the Bloomsbury Festival, London and her poetry collection When We Meet Heart to Face was accepted by the New Zealand Society of Authors as part of this year’s manuscript assessment programme.

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