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Collected Poems

Kowhai Poem

page 136

Kowhai Poem

(Dedicated to Mr Fairburn, the Plain Man's Poet)

A grey wind rustles the greenery,
my soul is sad in the bush,
the bloom of the kowhai has fallen, girls,
did somebody give it a push?

I've written a thousand verses
with kowhai gold as my theme,
but now once more in the winter's blast
I've a non-convertible dream.

I am a kowhai lover,
Fort Knox has nothing on me,
but there's nothing to do in the winter time
but hide in a hole in a tree.

With a bag-full of broken biscuits
and my leaky fountain pen
I'll hide in a hole in the puriri tree
till spring comes round again.