A contagion of unbridled smiles
Some days, on the 4.59 to Melling,
the trans clippie is slated. I know
what comes, what always happens.
I wait, watch, wonder which
nail-paint colour will greet us,
whether there’ll be hibiscus
and is today pony-tail or ringlets?
‘Let me alone’ tokens — books, mags,
phones — topple-close like dominoes.
Kia ORA! NICE to see you! How ARE you?
Soft words course closer each clip,
lips, eyes pleated in a miles-wide smile,
cheeks, brow crinkled with aroha.
Powerless to resist, each passenger
reciprocates, swathes the train in
a contagion of unbridled smiles.
Some days, I wish every Posie Parker
had to have their visa clipped
on a rainbow trip to Melling.
This poem was selected for publishing in the New Zealand Poetry Society’s 2023 anthology, white-hot heart. Posie Parker is a British anti-transgender rights activist. In March 2023, she sought permission (by applying for a visa) to enter New Zealand. Following political debate, transgender protests, and a judicial review of the application, a visa to enter the country was granted.
‘Kia ora’ is a Māori greeting phrase.
‘Aroha’ is a Māori word for love.
Read my About page for the origins of ‘Wednesday Boy’.
