Anna Paquin
did cartwheels
for your attention
on a windy beach
in New Zealand
while you played, Helen.
Karekare beach is full
of mud, not music.
Harvey Keitel watched
and listened
and we all fell in love
with you, Miss Hunter.
You sway when you play
and close your eyes
to better enjoy
the moment.
I am also
“afraid of my will”
sometimes,
as you told your
husband, Sam Neill,
not through words, though.
Your corset came lose
and taut hair down,
only when you chose.
“The heart asks pleasure
first.”
Yes, Emily Dickenson,
“and those little anodynes
that deaden suffering.”
Michael Nyman wrote
the music
and played it
in the film.
The song
and poem
still echo
off the cold waves
and the not listening
North Beach.
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