NZ National Poetry Day - Aotearoa b/w Poetry's Hooks

Hello Poetry Lovers,

I got so excited about National Poetry Day that I'm posting not one but two poems! Kind of like the old vinyl 7" single, with one poem being the B-side.

AOTEAROA, YOU’RE STANDING IN IT

Have you ever stood,

craning your neck to look up into the canopy

of the ancient kauri, Tane Mahuta,

while peace and birdsong permeate your soul?

Have you ever felt

the crusty spray and the satanic whiff

as the Pohutu geyser shoots aloft

while a dozen languages bubble through te reo?

Have you ever shivered

in the receding darkness,

standing in the china-white sand as you waited

for the first sunrise over Makorori Beach?

Have you ever sat

on the summit of Mt Taranaki

and eaten a well-deserved sandwich

while cows grazed far below on the lush, volcanic-rich pasture?

Have you ever experienced

that mixture of fear and awe

as an orca’s dorsal breached beside your too-fragile kayak

in the shining waters of the Abel Tasman?

Have you ever paused

atop a ski run on Coronet Peak

and reflected on the reflections

of sunlight dancing on snow and water? 

Have you ever felt sorry

for tourism chiefs and advertising creatives

trapped in offices in the Auckland CBD

dreaming up “100% Pure” and “Clean and Green”?

Ó Andrew M. Bell

HOW POETRY GOT HER HOOKS IN ME

It is an ancient Poet

and he stoppeth me.

“Beware of poetry, my son,

She’s a gold digger.

She’ll chew you up and spit you out,

leave you penniless and lying in a gutter,

drunk on absinthe,

while the rich novelists and scriptwriters

step over you, laughing.”

“Hold off! unhand me, greybeard loon!”

Unheeding, I slunk off to my garret

to compose a villanelle,

heavily derivative of Dylan Thomas.

  

I only wanted to get girls,

but before I knew it

I was roaming with the Romantics,

bopping with the Beats

and cruising with the Classicists.

Popping some Pope, shooting some Stevie Smith

or hitting up Heaney,

I was hopelessly addicted.

And I never did get the girl.

Ó Andrew M. Bell

For more poetry on National Poetry Day, visit:

www.tuesdaypoem.blogspot.com