Month: April 2020

In the thick blanket of grey rain,
pockets of low-hung cloud
tickle the tops of the Wakamarama Range
leaving to yesterday’s memory
the sharp, silhouetted skyline
on offer beneath that cloak of autumn.

Into the cell, the bubble
designed to separate us
one from another;
but here we are about
the business of
silent subversion
via cellular multiplication.

Are we serious about this,
is it real, legit and above board
and did it come upon us
of its own accord?

Oh such innocent questions
of the official party line
but to ask is to confirm
one’s sanity is in decline.

Today was much like yesterday
and yesterday was much like
the day before and
probably the day before
was much like tomorrow will be.

She was enjoying
uninterrupted days
working in the garden.
‘Time to just stop
and breath and listen,’
she said.
‘Time to
worship and to rest,
like the poet,
on the banks of the
lake isle
of Innisfree.’

The door was closed,
the tempting aroma of coffee
no longer wafted from the open window
and so the convivial chatter
of friends was silenced.

Otto, planted now in the earth
on the hill, for all time
where he bounds and fetches,
chases weka and dances
with piwakawaka through
the shadows of the green bush,
along the winding paths
where freedom has no end.

Sad times up there on the hill.
In the early hours of the morn
his big, beaut, goofy poodle
lay down in his arms and
signed off thirteen years of
being best mates with one last
knowing look;
with one long tear, falling.

Breath comes in short gasps,
the trek to the top requiring
more than I had anticipated;
I guess the body is lacking
in the required preparation
for expeditions such as these.

We wander from the garden
to the edge of the wilderness
and parade ourselves before
all gods unknown, all born
of our own, golden mage;
there, we pay homage to self.