Plastic Kiwi
by Lillia K Jacques
Jewels of every hue glow.
Rays softly filtering through the Long White Cloud
reveal their richness, refracted.
Indigenous / imported. Immaterial.
Multi-faceted brilliance;
Igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic gems
Solidified, fortified by the unique composition of native terrain,
Adorn the crown of Aotearoa.
Chips off the old block
Respect their royal lineage,
A shining example of the past enriching the present.
Admiring her diadem
Our Pacific Princess looks with pity
Upon the ‘plastic Kiwi’ included,
but lacking the fire and colour of surrounding stone.
Whether too blasé or ashamed to acknowledge the
Bittersweet taste of the soil from whence they were first fathomed
The plastic Kiwi’s ancestral ambivalence has robbed them of resplendence;
Unheated carbon lacks history, and therefore value.
A mirror without silvering is merely a pane of glass.
The master jeweller expects that all gems have flaws.
But without reflecting extensive experience
Imparted via cultural compaction
We resemble only the plastic present.
Of course, loving Aotearoa accepts us as her own.
But without the continuing contribution of our own
cultural clarity
Are we complex enough to be counted among her treasures?