There’s an attitude you need for living here.
It’s not resilience, although you might need that
as well. No, it’s a kind of defiance.

Wellington is good at defiance. In the face of gales
that in other cities would snatch off roofs or lift trees
out of the ground by their roots, it hunkers down.
It doesn’t flinch at the odd tree felled on a car,
building materials hurled across a yard –
they’re minor matters – it just has to stay head down
and wait for the wild wind to blow on through.

In the face of scorn, it pulls out flags and slogans
– ‘the coolest little capital in the world.’
Its cafes brazenly spread in all weathers
out on the street in a stoical al fresco.

It resolutely rides the trains. No matter the breakdowns,
stoppages, frustrations, it pours itself
through the railway station morning and night,
a show of strength for good enviro–practice.

And on still days it glitters enchantingly
round the glassy harbour, preening itself
on all its virtues, and stubbornly defying the odds.

Adrienne Jansen