Beyond the black craggy rocks I see a white ship passing and an aeroplane in the sky.

Walking along the green 

steeply heights 

at a glance

I see all around me

Island Bay and Owhiro Bay

all at once.

Avie.

GROWING WEATHER

GROWING WEATHER.

I sense the pores 

breathing through

the green stem 

from the beginning 

of a slow rain

how the scent of the soil 

moves into the air 

that exudes the oils from 

fragrant  flowers.

Life absorbed by the earth

and the ancestral belief

that rain will bring 

survival.

Avie.

GLITZY

        GLITZY

I used to park Glitzy

outside in the cold night 

but since I've recently 

moved house

she lives in a spacious underground car park 

where it's warm and dry

and I know she's happier 

there out of the weather.

I try to convince myself

repeating over and over

she's only a machine it doesn't matter 

she hasn't got feelings.

She's only a machine.

She's only a machine.

Avie.

A REMINDER OF YOU

A funny thing happened

to me today

I saw someone exactly

like you driving a car

the same colour model

and everything.

Except it wasn't you

was it? 

How could it have been

you're not hear 

are you?

Avie.

Penyffridd

PENYFFRIDD

There was always 

a mouse trap 

in the pantry 

O dan y grisiau (under the stairs).

A golden mechanism 

turned the hands for

the sun and moon to 

rise and fall

across the face 

of Bethesda and Jerusalem.

The morbid chimes

kept precise time

on the hour

in parlour rooms 

of silent bibles.

Avie.

 

CLEMENT WEATHER LOVE

I used to live in 

dark rooms

where the light

never used to get in

then you opened 

the curtains to

let the sun in

without your clothes on

as if I needed 

to see the weather

you brought

a new meaning 

to blue skies.

Avie.

LITTLE PRINCESS

      LITTLE PRINCESS

Your Father is an alcoholic 

he tried to kill 

himself in rehab today

the house you love

is on the market 

so is your Mother

but you don't need 

to know that now.

Avie.

QUAKE

        QUAKE

When the earth moved

after midnight with

a tumultuous force

a shift in conversation occurred from the core

a light relief for some of us

from the drudgery

of politics and rugby.

Avie.

ATHEIST

     ATHEIST 

Please don't get all sanctimonious 

telling me that

you've found God 

because you know

I have great faith 

but I don't believe

in that kind of thing.

If you should ever

preach to me 

about your new

found truth

I hope you will understand 

like warring countries

it won't be long  

before we end up 

killing one another

I never said 

I was a pacifist.

Avie.

NEW ZEALAND/NATURES OMELETTE.

This recipe is an absolute cinch to make 

first add a squeeze 

of lemon 

a smidgen of

Pohutakawa needles

saffron on the fried earth 

use the sun as the egg 

a yellow red circumference 

a pinch of black seed and a

tablespoon of light rain.

Sprinkle with parsley

allow natures blossom to weave a fabric 

like whitebait patties

let it cook slowly

the warm wind 

will assist the whisk

flip over onto the 

pan dry earth.

For a strong fragrance 

wait 30 seconds 

for the crimson blossom

to fall out of the sky

then add a light drizzle

of summer seasoning.

Avie.

BELL TOWER (CONVERSATION WITH A SEVEN YEAR OLD)

Why are we not 

allowed to climb

the bell tower 

are there graves

underneath us

how did they die

and where did 

they fall down 

and why didn't they 

come home

who was it that

hurt the dead soldiers.

Avie.

 SINCERELY L COHEN

I listened to you

in rooms

of darkness 

and light.

You had a way

with words and

I believed in

every word 

you said.

Avie.

Lost Umbrella

LOST UMBRELLA 

Do you remember

you had it with you 

at the time 

it started to spit

I told you that

I preferred the rain

to the sun 

and out

of the blue

we kissed 

in the rain

and then the

sun came out.

Avie.

Trump

         TRUMP

There is a whisper 

going round

that the world is

going to end

now do us a favour 

before we panic

put the kettle on love

let's have a cup of tea.

Avie.

TO MEG

TO MEG

The inscription on 

the inside cover said

To Meg happy 26th

have an awesome 1996.

This should look quite good on a New Zealand bookshelf love Sam.

The yellow marks and

faded coffee stains 

on the pages you 

received with love

and gave away 

I picked out of a box

at the fair.

Thanks for sharing 

the poems

Meg 

back from

1996 

when you

were only 26.

Avie.

DIAGNOSIS

DIAGNOSIS

The Doctor explained

I had branches in my

peripheral right lobe

quite triangular in shape

with well defined margins

and a tree-in bud appearance.

I told him I had been a gardener almost all my life and was familiar with these 

symptoms and further explained that the buds would not open and bloom until the spring time around the same time as the formal hedge would need a trim.

Avie.

WETA

WETA

I surprised you 

when I told you

I was terrified 

of wetas after the time

I discovered one 

under the flower pot. 

We laughed out loud

when I said it would 

be the most unpleasant

thing imaginable 

to find one 

tickling my feet at the 

bottom of the bed 

and I could never

pick one up

without thinking I had dislocated its leg.

You thought 

Wetas were cute 

I'd forgotten you

kept a pet tarantula

a rat called Tom 

and a python

in your bedroom

weirdo.

Avie.

MYNYDD DDU (BLACK MOUNTAIN)

Ancient stones skeleton 

the back bone 

along the cat's back(Crib y Gath)

the patchwork globe

rises and falls steeply

over hills and waterfall.

In the distance

a silver serpent

gleams in the sun

appearing to go nowhere 

the ash branch 

shadows a field 

grey fingers point

to a falcons eye

punished blackthorn lean

undignified yet

hold the beauty and

defy the bleakness

of every view.

Avie.

SCAR ROCK

SCAR ROCK (HEREFORDSHIRE)

Tumbling down 

the moss green slide

under the crack of foot

deep in the shadows

of the brittle wood.

Tree serpents rise

from the darkness

out of the blaze

still anchored to

the ancient seed that

unfolded the first green light.

Roots wrestle in thorn

and bramble widespread

in rage of forest flame

the colour of the salmon

that swim in the deep 

and shallows for the fisherman and poacher

who pass this precarious way along the steep banks

of the river Wye and the lovers

who carve their names 

to grow old with the oak

in the hour before

the fading light.

Avie.

WARRIOR

WARRIOR OF FERN

It was the gentle serene

that caused me to stand there

I have yet to understand

the intimacy.

She appeared from 

the floral flame

a flax speared 

the green startle 

the sharp sway cut her naked breast as she bathed her

battle wounds in the moist

allure deep in the fearless 

shade of the immortal leaf.

At a second glance

all that remained of her bravery was in the sensual

scent of flowers

the secrets of her weapons

shone beneath the moonlight

pearls along the shoreline.

Avie.

Witches

Talking Of Witches

With all your charms

you asked if I believed

In witches

I said no

unaware that you had

earlier weaved a spell.

I think you believed me

when I told you

I was a good wizard.

Avie.

SOME

        SOME

       Some 

walk in and stay a while

       some

come and go

        some

walk in and walk 

straight out 

         some

peer through the glass

from peripheral gardens

        some

walk along the garden path

       someone is here

       to stay 

          It's you.

Avie.

RECONCILIATION

RECONCILIATION 

If I hadn't 

seen a recent

photograph

we could have walked

past each other in the street

total strangers

we might have already

what are the odds?

Isn't it funny 

how time 

can do this

to old friends 

funny that

but mostly 

sad.

Avie.

Lake ferry

  LAKE FERRY 

WAIRARAPA NZ

Swan dry Fisherman 

lined up in a row 

on the edge of 

the stoney dark  shore

heavy under foot

strewn with fish heads and gulls.

Driftwood the size of giant white trees

some charred black from 

camp fires 

rubbed by the saline claw

of sand and pebble

a cold silver 

sky full of 

rugged beauty

the colour of fish scales.

The woman sits 

on a deck chair 

her net is set 

she waits for time and

wishes to lure the

flow of the silvery 

eyed catch.

Avie.