Tuesday Poem: "Orakawa Bay"

Like a world untouched

it lies below me.

Debonair,

sporting a pohutukawa hairstyle,

and beneath this

the angular straw-coloured features

taper to the full, aristocratic watery mouth.

Beneath an unburnished steel sky,

rolling with the punches

of a silken sea,

am I, one man,

escaping the madness for awhile.

Many years ago, I lived at Waihi Beach at the bottom of the Coromandel Peninsula. At the northern end of the beach was a walking track that led over to Orakawa Bay. At that time, Orakawa Bay could only be accessed by walking a reasonable distance through the bush and the bay lay like a reward at the end of the journey. I hope this is still the case.

The poet wishes to acknowledge The Press in whose pages this poem first appeared.