Rangikura and Poūkahangatus
Even though you’ve may have never met Tayi Tibble, you feel as if you know her after reading either one of her poetry collections. Rangikura or the award-winning first collection Poūkahangatus are full of vivid imagery and remarkable skill with words and phrases. Both collections echo with you long after you have read them.
Modern poets fall into two major categories - those who retain the traditional form and write about the typified elements of poetry such as nature, love, connection and so on; and then there are those who push the boundaries of form, stretch the expectations of structure and bring a linguistic quality more resonate in rap than in the traditional form. Tibble creates poem after poem that feels fresh, exciting and dramatic while still maintaining the long whakapapa of poetry.
In Poūkahangatus her poems are raw edged and full of angst and activism while having a hopefulness for what can be. The final poem, Hawaiki, is a view of life and death and connects with te ao Māori and the universal but generally sanguine view that things will get better with the next generation.
“Life and death
are the colour red.
They are the colour
of a cosmic heartbeat
rising on his fresh baby flesh
pinched between fingers
and kissed.”
[Hawaiki: Poūkahangatus]
The content within Tibble’s poems cover sex and sexuality, food, friendship, culture, pain, grief, love, partying, isolation, and everything in between. At times there is a sadness behind the words in both collections, sometimes so visceral that you will find yourself deeply moved by the ideas and revelations. At other moments Tibble demonstrates a wry sense of humour and word play that is matched by few modern poets. Overall, however, the whole collection demonstrates her strength of character and incredibly bright future as a writer.
“I come from a line of blazing women
born in the red mouth of mountains
that first kiss the sun. They teach me
to live life for fun.
I’ve always been the kind of girl
too fire to be handled with care.”
[Te Araroa: Rangikura]
In her latest 2021 offering, Rangikura, Tibble is sure to be a contender for increased publicity, more additions to her award collection and solidified status within New Zealand’s stirling poetry tradition.
The promotional material that surrounds this new collection includes the line, “These poems live in the space between the end of the world and a new day.” It is printed on the back of the collection also, and it captures the liminal space within which these poems exist.
Both Poūkahangatus and Rangikura are a triumph of skill and verbal dexterity.
Hāpaitia te ara tika pūmau ai te rangatiratanga mō ngā uri whakatipu
Foster the pathway of knowledge to strength, independence and growth for future generations.
Titles: two poetry collections, Rangikura (2021) and Poūkahangatus (2018)
Author: Tayi Tibble
Publisher: Victoria University Press (Te Herenga Waka University Press from January 2022)
ISBN: 9781776564248 and 9781776561926
Format: Paperback
Ages: 15+
Reviewer: Chris Reed, Macleans College, Auckland
Recommendation: Highly Recommended
You can buy these books here