Salient. An Organ of Student Opinion at Victoria College, Wellington, N.Z. Vol. 2, No. 14. July 12, 1939

Southerly

Southerly

Be sorry for the shivering wall-paper,
And leave the carpet's billowing agony
And stop the chattering teeth of window-panes
( Heigh Ho! the window-panes!)
Bring your barriers to stem the chilling
Torrent underneath the door.
The radiator,
Goddess of alternating current
Cribbed helplessly along a single wire
Confronts the noseinfrigorating cold.
The dust of last year's life
And last week's cigarette-ash
Shuddering.
Be sorry for the ghost of your dead self
Impotently drifting along the mantel-piece
Deader than rejected catsmeat.
It's chilly.

Ung.