The reference to “baby girl” is also a reflection of the vulnerability of innocence of a newborn, and this chaos of nature and superstition colliding. The baby crying, not wanting to eat. The person sharing the poem being scared of the ocean, the sea, because now there is an awareness of what can happen— with the taking of life, the last breath. The tsunami is referred to as being selfish and hungry and greedy. CSP: What are you working on next? ABP: I’ve been thinking about writing a short novel about growing up in New Zealand. In recent times I have realized my kids have no idea what it was like, growing up working-class as a minority. They are kids growing up in Samoa, where they are the majority and there is a very strong sense of identity. At this point it will be semi-biographical. The project is something I have been thinking about for a while. It does not have a name yet. I see this in the long term becoming a film and always have a picture of how it will open. That’s the vision for now and something I have had in my head for many years. With my mother’s illness (cancer) and having gone back home (New Zealand) more frequently in recent times, it makes this project a way of writing something that can be a gift to my parents and my sisters. Another project I have been thinking about is portraits of different people but using poetry,
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