Already
in Use
tahi | The
Condition Is Already in Place
The sky sits
low
above the
field line.
no rain.
not yet
dusk.
The tima
stands
where it was
left,
handle
leaning into oneparaumu,
tines
half-unearthed—
soil pressed
to metal.
Light falls—
steady as
dust
on the
gatepost,
the rim of
the bucket,
the back of
the hand
washed but
unlifted.
Time does
not arrive.
It is
already in use:
in the slow
tightening
of the
clothesline,
in the
fence’s tilt
toward the
house,
in the delay
before the
wind shifts.
The wire
hums
though no
hand has touched it.
Earth turns.
Still
turning.
Mutu ana.
No answer.
rua | Learning Without Instruction
The hands know before the mind
which knot will hold,
which joint will slip,
which weight belongs left,
which must stay right.
The same needle threads
the same tear
in the same cloth,
until the seam
holds.
The thumb curls under.
The wire is pulled tight
after every third turn.
The body leans
into the motion
before the thought arrives.
In the pattern of calluses,
the adjustment of stance,
the tool fitting into the hollow
of the palm
without being named.
Again and again—
the body keeps it.
toru | What Comes After
The hand no
longer pauses
between
stitch and pull.
The needle
passes
through the
same
invisible
seam.
The knot
holds
without
being watched.
Light thins.
The floor
cools.
The tools
rest māmā
in the palm,
no longer
new,
no longer
resisted.
A fraction
of hau
catches
before it
gives.
The room
settles.
The hand
continues.
This submission consists of three linked poems (tahi, rua, toru), presented as a cohesive triptych exploring embodied knowledge, process, and continuance without instruction.
Topher Shields is a poet from Aotearoa New Zealand. His work explores embodied inheritance, material ritual, and the quiet architectures of labour and land. He writes at the intersection of silence and structure, where repetition becomes knowledge and restraint becomes
His poetry has appeared or is forthcoming in Puerto del Sol, The Shore, Cordite Poetry Review, Santa Clara Review, DIALOGIST, The Bangalore Review, and elsewhere. He was recently a finalist for the River Heron Poetry Prize.
He is currently developing a manuscript concerned with industrial ancestry, landscape as living archive, and the ethics of naming.
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