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Sport 37: Winter 2009
Tony Beyer
Tony Beyer
The Acolyte
on the day of his apotheosis
Elvis will come to Hawera
in a sky blue 72 Cadillac
and raise up his faithful servant
K.D. Wasley by the hand
mumbling Good goin ol buddy
in that voice that tells you
it's all right
and while a chorus of Florida beach girls
wiggles along to Return to Sender
the two of them
sideburned and slightly paunchy
but it's all right
will soar above the water tower and Mt Taranaki
into the blue sky of rock n roll legend
where there is only one King
who clicks into place on his throne
like a fridge door magnet
Colin McCahon Was an Elvis Impersonator
checked shirt
jeans
sideburns
and the tendency towards
a quiff over the forehead
he could have painted
Man With a Cadillac Grin
or speed stripes
along the sides
of a bottle-green Vauxhall
or the infinite variations
of three-dimensional chess
in two dimensions
but it was the era
of Sputnik
All Shook Up
and the Northland Panels
Jane's Paintings
(Jane Pountney 1949–2004)
1
I'm tired of writing
letters to dead friends
2
I remember
how elated she was
having sold a painting
to be able to buy materials
for another larger work
and how the new scale
made her stretch her arms
and art
3
in the absence
of a God
she could believe in
McCahon was her god
a flawed and stumbling
exemplar
who wrote his name
on dark
with light
4
for a long time
all she owned
of value
was the McCahon
she eventually sold
to buy a house
to paint in
5
busy vigorous generous loud
not nearly
for long enough