Lockdown Letters

The greatest leaders from history have made sacrifices in times of need. A look at who, now, is doing that for us.

Letters to Hone Tūwhare and his Travelling Band of Constant Companions, continued. 

'My patience, never a very strong part of my character, is being stretched a bit so thinking of something else is preferable to throwing all the cups on the floor.'

We spent years waiting on a moment. That moment is here, but what can anyone show for it?

On writing and not writing about bread.

When fiction and reality collide, asking 'What if?' takes on a new meaning.

'I took a walk Easter Friday. Looked out for you everywhere. The churches are down at the moment. All I have is the beach.'

'Illegal bulletins by Rona and Chips Bailey and cartoons by Max Bollinger continued in spite of police raids'

'In an ideal world the physical lives we build would speak to the past, but the truth is New Zealanders silence it, building their social and industrial histories literally on top of Māori.'

'It feels like there is an inner circle of walking that I can no longer break into, some pleasure I have become too stupid to feel. Maybe it’s the internet’s fault.'

Responding to sudden, shocking change requires a double lens. Thank goodness for newspapers, real and imagined.

'It is sobering watching what a country can do if it wants to. Having been told for so long that nothing is possible. These are strange times down the back of the bus, John.'

'Yes, it's endearing that the PM said that the Easter Bunny is an essential service but I wondered how many kids had a hope in hell of seeing three good meals a day let alone a chocolate egg.'

'Paint is peeling from the old truck workshop walls. Some days you can taste rust on the autumn wind, like swallowing iron and blood and pollen.'

'When you reach for the exact same thing day after day, your grasp on everything else in the world loosens.'