Bio
Susan Howard is a poet and playwright, living in Matakana. Her poetry reflects her macro and micro view of the world. She has been published in New Zealand in Takahē Magazine, Poetry in a Mirror, a fine line, overseas in The Blue Nib, Shot Glass Journal, and Not Very Quiet.
Susan Howard
Conversations With a Granddaughter
I have learnt that it takes time to make friends
when you first start school. I sometimes observe
the other girls. They call me the watcher behind
my back. In the mean-time the boys are my friends,
and I don't put my foot out to trip people up.
I like to listen to the Taniwha in the ground.
The chickens come up to the fence to say hello.
And what did you learn while you were young
while I take my bath and make the water wheel
turn? I learnt that girls are friends in different
ways from boys, but they don't like girls that are
friends with the boys. I once leant over to place
my lips on the cheek of the boy sitting beside me,
and the teacher told me off for not ruling off my
work. I met her years later. We were polite to each
other, but I could see that she remembered.