Kerry Dalton

Words by David Haxton

It’s fair to say Kerry Dalton had a few nerves running through her as she saw the size of the crowd in front of her.

Dalton was among 10 poets who took part in the New Zealand Womad Poetry Slam competition held at the Womad festival in the Bowl of Brooklands, New Plymouth.

Not only were about 1000 people waiting to be entertained but three judges as well, including New Zealand poet laureate Chris Tse.

Judging wasn’t just on the poem itself but on how well the poet delivered it. No pressure.

Dalton, who is the Citizens Advice Bureau chief executive, certainly felt a long way from her humble abode in Paekākāriki.

With a few deep breaths, and as much courage as she could summon, there was only one thing Dalton could do as she stepped out onto the stage — give it her best shot.

The poets were whittled down during a series of rounds before Dalton was declared the overall winner.

Dalton read three of her poems in the competition: My Night Sky, To Pluto on the occasion of its demotion from being a planet, and Let Us Breathe.

She was a bit hesitant with her first poem as it included some swear words, but it went down well with the audience and gave her a lot of confidence as the competition progressed.

Before the competition, Dalton had only read her poetry twice in public — firstly at the New Zealand Poetry Society Competition in Auckland where her Pluto poem placed third, and secondly at the Raumati South Club’s poetry open night, which she used to prepare for the Womad competition.

At Womad, she read her poems off by heart and put in as much expression as she could.

“I was really happy,” she said about winning the competition.

“You write things but don’t know how someone is going to respond to them.

“But I had this large audience responding very enthusiastically, which was great, and the judges as well.

“It was very encouraging to me.”

The prize for winning the competition was two luxury tickets to Womad next year.

Dalton said that, once she gets an idea for a poem, it snowballs into other ideas.

“It can take a long time for me to feel a poem is completed.

“I play around with words, take words out, add more in — a lot goes into them.”

“I’ve written poetry in fits and starts, especially because of working full-time.

“In 2021 I was lucky enough to have a sabbatical from my work so I spent quite a bit of that time writing poetry, which was wonderful.”

She’s had a love of poetry for as long as she can remember.

“I think poetry is a wonderful thing.

“It’s people expressing themselves, crafting words and connecting with other people through it.

“The more we can have of it the better.”

We can expect to hear more from her, especially as the reaction from the Womad audience had been “hugely affirming”.

“At the very least I think I will be writing more poems and trying to perform them.”

Let Us Breathe

You call to me within the sphere that CO2 is making disappear. I climbed your branches took you for granted did not see your rings of history I release my breath It gets transformed inside your chest

The air is cool cleansed by your skin a place to be renewed in Place your feet here, anchor the soil here filter the wind through your leaves let us breathe, let us breathe, let us breathe You reach up high span earth and sky hold the arcing moon, hope in your limbs. You rustle all through the night, pollinate the stars give the birds respite I will not trade you on the future’s market. I will not give you up to the cutting floor I breathe you You breathe me We make atoms swarm Place your feet here, anchor the soil here filter the wind through your leaves let us breathe let us breathe let us breathe