Grosz takes me by surprise and

shows me a land I already know.

The turbulent Chaos is an endless

doorway of Te Pō. Te Pō is the

moment between the foot touching

the space in the doorjamb

and its extension into

possible futures. The distance

between this extension and my arrival

was carved into Atalanta’s sandal

at the beginning of love (its

pursuit, defense and capture), and

everything else, in order to

measure dichotomy – violent, vengeful,

reifying dichotomy.

But this is not her famed footrace,

which asked her to be pursued/pursuer.

This is just her walk. She looks out onto

the trees and arrives to join us where the

pohutukawa entwined with the olive branch

over this fifty summer afternoon.

We picnic on space, pick our teeth with time.

I warp a little world into an orange, with

some effort, and she peels it with

her teeth and takes it whole, with her

own effort.

This piece was inspired by Elizabeth Grosz’s 2007 keynote address at the Feminist Theory Workshop.