Alistair Te Ariki Campbell is a Penrhyn Islander who has spent most of his life in New Zealand, which makes him bi–cultural, existing somewhat uneasily in both the Polynesian and Pakeha worlds. He has published drama, four novels, and seventeen collections of verse, including Just Poetry, (HeadworX, 2007) in which ‘Tidal’ appears. He has won major poetry awards, including the Prime Minister’s Award for Excellence in Poetry, 2005.

Campbell comments: ‘ “Tidal” was written on 1 June 2007 in the sad knowledge that my beloved wife Meg hadn’t long to live. It was my last poem for her, and it is still the last poem I have written. “Alistair and I”, she once wrote, “are both water signs, and come and go with the tide.” Meg died on 17 November 2007.’