Under the UNESCO Cities of Literature umbrella, Dunedin UNESCO City of Literature took the opportunity to contribute to the project Caring for Each Other is a Human Right. Launched by Slemani, a city in Iraq, that became a UNESCO City of Literature in 2019. They called for written works of optimism and positivity to help people cope during the global COVID-19 pandemic. These were available online and a book gifted to participants as a permanent record of this creative collaboration.
Dunedin shared the beautiful poem Otago Harbour by Jilly O’Brien.
Otago Harbour
Tonight is quiet water
gentle hands and walking feet
under pāua shell skies
shimmer dimmed
after many rinses of the tide
left to lie, resting
over Hereweka
towards the ocean side
keeping hands and feet to self
waves stand still or so it seems
holding off until
hoiho stumbles home
matuku settles himself
kawau says ‘Let us pray’
Ko te rā māeneene
Ā te rāhui Takaroa
We should rest
We should rest
*Whakataukī (Māori proverb) taken from Earth, sea, sky: images and Māori proverbs from the natural world of Aotearoa New Zealand by Patricia and Waiariki Grace