Name: Trevor Landers
country : New Zealand
bio: Trevor Landers lives in the leafy, verdant suburb of Ngaio, surrounded by Nikau palms
and fern fronds in a little oasis in western arm of the city of Wellington. He is a National Advisor at the Tertiary Education Commission.  His poetry has been widely published, most recently in the international publication, "In our Own Words", a generation X anthology edited by Marlow Peerse Weave.   Publication of collection of collaborative poems with Romanian poet, Cristina Galeata, is imminent and interested readers should direct their enquiries to: Publications Manager, The Zealot Press, P.O. Box 10-933, The Terrace, Wellington, New Zealand.
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The inherent beauty and brilliance of dinner in good company on blustery Wellington nights

I am no martyr, or apostle
     don't brandish idols of staurolatry
   but I can assuredly say, I relish the
inherent beauty and brilliance of dinner
   with exceptional company, playful banter
and witty repartee goes a long way
   when the wind funnels through the chasms of the
       city, not so much a typhoon but an elemental smile
  from the celestial bodies who whorl and swirl around us
      the horripilation on the back of the neck
  simply makes you feel the embrace of a good winter coat more insistently
     and I proclaim myself guilty of gulosity; of greediness
          such moments make me voracious for the lives we can lead
              and I will not satiate my hunger until
                we have all dined and eaten the Thai banquet of emerging friendships
              and with this, I walk home, content, eminently satisfied.

* staurolatry; catholic term for worship of crosses




Gisborne Departing

tarmac, slick glisten
  veil of mist swaddling the perimeter fence
runway lights twinkle emerald, azure
    polite conversation ebbing in the terminal
  embracing departure, the pink corona of sun's fall settles over the Wairoa ranges
     like an elegant peshmina shawl
the grandeur eclipsing the silky, serpentine slither of
      artful river, as it snakes inland silently, serenely
  the muffled obtenebrations of cloud sliced and sluiced
        by insistent propellers
  that reassuring hum of aviation, the interior lights
      like a sacristy, or a chapel, and the cathedral of lumen
           from the instrument panel; a day of connections
        assurgent spirits awakened; emboldened
  the other passengers listless with weariness
   slumped in crammed seats, dozing restoratively
     or gazing wistfully into the slough of dark
  waiting for the jostle and jangle of turbulence
     lurching leeward, lurching lateral
         the sky now is a daubed with fading tamarillo jus
    &  the garneritude of night fully unravelled
          thinking of them warmly, I am further inspired
    a silent plangent thought: thank you all.




View from the Skyline Track

     a quiet restorative Sunday in Ngaio
  Awarua Street slumbers, cars sit placidly silent
      only a few curtains flutter, and the evanescent lights
   of kitchen awaken, households limbering into movement
          at journey's start
  the style is heavy with the sticky dew
     of morning's mist,
        the ochre clay; coagulated by the overnight deluge
    sticks resolutely to soles, the gentle zephyr is a defiant challenge
       but the billowing sky, grey and forthright leads us onward
              from the pinnacle, Wellington harbour lies in the
   shape of a playful manatee, Matiu is the aqueous orb
       and little Mokupuna, Te Ana Kahungunu, the eyelash
  further westward the flipper rests on the murmuring shores of Te Akau-tangi
       and planes depart; the fluke at Pencarrow Head is Te Rai Aki-Aki
           across the brine is headland devour of winds, Te Tai Kauhau
     or thoughts of purpresture gone, this is no mere encroachment
                the city's tower blocks and tenements are like ancient, ossified trees
                     their glistening bark glinting in the sun's euthermic kiss
                         & we survey this picturesque sight, and deliver encomiums to
                     the majesty of the natural, awestruck by this glorious pageant.




Satirical communications with 'Bertie'

Oh frightfully well done, Sir.
      I am pleased you appreciated the lyrical entanglements.
          I suspect your notes will be clean, crisp and utterly intelligible,
        as per usual. Sir, has a very adroit and adept way of stating things, and
           the modesty is a veritable touchstone in these heady days of hedonism
  & wanton excess.  This schedule is a truly commendable effort,
      given the incommodious regions to which you are flung.
       My admiration, sir, grows like the leafy languidness of a cypress tree.
           I have taken the liberty, of apprising for you the residential address
               of the young gentleman who causes you
                  monstrous mirth and merriment, I have to say
                    this is injudicious, sir, ill-advised, but Sir, be guided
                           by intuitive faculties on these matters.




Songs for Sylvia Plath, unwittingly amid the Ngaio Bush

I see the unmissable acts of revelation
   in the aqueousness of your eyes
and in unanswerable implorations
    of the immolatory fire glowing in your glinting sapphire orbs
       the smaller acts of apostasy, in the cathedra of your mind
   It is is Schopenhauer's aphorism I bequeath to you:
      " vulgar people make huge delight in the faults and follies
               of great men [sic]"
   Thus, Sylvia it is to amorousness and kindness we must be suppliant
             speaking ill of others is that cancer most insidious
          yes, a most specious and churlish tactic
              and worst; infiltrates the host as it chancres the recipient
                  so Sylvia, you of the diaphanous soul and splendid line
                           sleep on softly, let warm praise and solidarity
                               cushion your sepulchre, let this world's acerbity lie.




Moving to Rothsay Road, Ngaio

  on a road that sounds like a plenipotentiary
       or an intrepid naval commander
   from the bridge, masted flags flutter nautical salutations
       triangulated welcomes, encrypted by the wind
              on the undisputed foreshore, venerable cabbage trees flutter
                    the clock of native trees is like a Korowai
               zippy European cars pinball down Awarua street with the sheen of brazenness
                            but there is a strange communion, maybe it it is etiquette
                         the wind whistles a rustling concerto
                   as the kitchen is strewn with memories of other places, other times
              mismatched crockery sets and chipped champagne flutes must
                     be the amulets of the transient & every vagabond heart is stilled
                 in the broodiness of darkening afternoon, a moment is paroxysmal
                           such enviable peace amid the boxes of displacement
                                a phoenix rising from every nook and cranny
                           and now the sun, radiating striated beams of succour
                                  makes the nikau sing, and the unfurled fern fronds dance.