New Zealand poet laureate Selina Tusitala Marsh marks the very fine and wonderful occasion of the birth of a daughter to Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and her partner Clarke Gayford.
Jacinda and Clarke and the Baby and Us: A Rondeau
The baby’s here, the baby’s here!
Aotearoa, New Zealand, what a year!
Jacinda, our partnered and pregnant world first
Has, this 125 Suffrage year, given birth
To a wee girl so dear
*
Women are extending the frontier
In Census 2018 let’s be clear
And count the ways women in the stats have reversed
The baby’s here, the baby’s here!
*
Patsy, our Governor General is near
Sian’s our Chief Justice, Lianne’s Christchurch Mayor
Jenny and Carmel for Labour (but Winnie came first)
Marama co-leading Greens, another burst
But the real labour has happened, let’s be clear:
The baby’s here, the baby’s here!
By Selina Tusitala Marsh, June 21, 2018
The Spinoff Review of Books is proudly brought to you by Unity Books.