Between Flags

Surfers say
beware of calm surfaces

where feeder currents run.
Labour weekend, come Monday

the kowahi rains.
Apple orchard parabolas

in a transmarine season.
Magnetic iron sands at Muriwai

like walking in an advent calendar.
The green stars of tī kōuka

cordyline australis or Cornish palms
punkish at Perranporth.

Flutter boards buck
in the tumble of Tangaroa.

Windsweep.
No household rubbish here.

Manuka rumps to the wind.
Puhe’s perfume, sunflushed air.

Hovering on the horizon –

Motutara

uncollected, first published in the Aotearoa New Zealand Poetry Sound Archive, © Briar Wood 2004, used by permission of the author. Recording from the Aotearoa New Zealand Poetry Sound Archive 2004

Briar Wood

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