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.
