Bred in South AucklandI drive a car that is falling apart ( Read more... )

Somewhere, it's international blog against racism week. I do not think I am qualified, both literally and personally, to talk about the race relations problems in my country with sincerity and with good judgement. Instead, I'm going to post a series of poems from Glenn Colquhoun's book The Art of Walking Upright. Colquhoun is a Pakeha man who took ( Read more... )

I have a cartoon on my door. Well, I have several, actually, but only one's relevant here. It's a Slane cartoon from the New Zealand Listener of October last year, just after the general election. It shows a carpark with a desk in a parking space; on the wall above the desk is the legend "RESERVED: MINISTER OUTSIDE CABINET." Sitting with his feet ( Read more... )

senri recently admired Kate Camp's poem The Insomniac Learns a Lot. I have a few more Camp poems here, because I should think they'd be difficult to get overseas.

Dear SirI have received your visit and comments, with regret ( Read more... )

ANZAC day. Lest we forget.

Dulce Et Decorum Est

War's a joke for me and you
While we know such dreams are true.-- Siegfried Sassoon ( Read more... )

The Naming of Cats The Naming of Cats is a difficult matter ( Read more... )

The Insomniac Learns a LotDark voices talk to her ( Read more... )

To a woman who fainted recently at a poetry readingA blood pressure of ninety millimetres of mercury is normally required to adequately perfuse the central nervous system. If the head is lowered, however, the pressure needed to maintain consciousness is considerably lower. Of course if one has severed a major artery or torn it lengthwise like a ( Read more... )

Happy Easter, early for some of you, to those who celebrate it; have a safe and happy holiday weekend. <3

Two today; one for the non-Kiwis and one for the Kiwias, although naturally both can read either. The first one, Rain, must surely be one of the best-read NZ poems but I doubt it's known much elsewhere; the other, Friend, is an equal classic ( Read more... )

I Love to ReadBut my life better not turn out ( Read more... )