The taxi driver only came to Christchurch for the weekend

But his friend was advertising for a flatmate

And this beautiful red head answered his ad

So he stayed to marry her

He still has his house in Dunedin

And he keeps a copy of an exam his son sat

Tucked into the sun visor to show his passengers.

 

The taxi driver used to have a business to do with beans

Not the sort of beans we have in New   Zealand

But the government took control of the business

And ruined it. They also shot his brother

He does not know when he will see his children again

 

The taxi driver left Napier at 17 with the merchant marines

And it was only going to be for a year or so

The first boat he was on changed its course

The cargo of potatoes was going off

So they were sold to make gin

In London the company gave them 50 pounds a day for expenses

while the ship was in dry dock

the pubs closed at 3 so they took a look at the sights

He looked in the museums and the galleries

They were free

In New York he saw the Salvador Dali exhibition

He likes that sort of thing.

 

The taxi driver recognises me as his neighbour

Who has a truck

He cheers up when he finds out my friends

are dropping me off

And going all the way to the Hutt.

 

The taxi driver wears jandals on his hands and knees

He lost his legs (below the knee)

When he walked on a land mine

Lucky really

Now he has a disabled car park outside the flats

But he saves it for people who have real disabilities.

 

The taxi driver is reading Womans Day and I say

Hasn’t that Princess Beatrice turned out wild

The taxi driver has given her children strict upbringing

She has taught them to be respectful

One is a doctor, one is a computer programmer

One works in a call centre

And I say if Princess Beatrice had had her for a mother

She wouldn’t have turned out so badly.

 

The taxi driver speeds us down the motorway

So we won’t miss our plane

He is a good cricketer and has played in teams in

Pakistan and Australia and here

Auckland is a better place to drive taxis but

He may join a cricket team in Christchurch.

 

The taxi driver has five grown children

And now – more joy – an adopted daughter

He explains that the bible was translated into Samoan

That’s why most Pacific Islanders can speak Samoan

I ask about the identity of his new kiwi born daughter

I want to know if he thinks if she is Samoan

Undoubtedly she is Samoan

But the young people are losing the language.

 

The taxi driver curses the road

we don’t know how frustrating it is

this should be a roundabout or even a set of lights

he has written to the Transport people about it

they should ask the taxi drivers what to do

 

The taxi driver was going to have a Thai bride

He went to meet her but couldn’t stop thinking

about the Chinese girl he met online.

His mate said just fly there, so he got a flight from Bangkok

and surprised her, met all her family

Now they have a five year old and she

loves gardening you wouldn’t believe all the

foreign vegetables she grows

they eat really healthy

 

The taxi driver took a memory course

We give him dates and he tells us who was born then

When I get to a computer I check

he was right, Chrissy Hynde shares my daughters birthday.