Other formats

    TEI XML file   ePub eBook file  

Connect

    mail icontwitter iconBlogspot iconrss icon

The New Zealand Railways Magazine, Volume 14, Issue 9 (December 1, 1939)

Scent of Manuka Smoke

Scent of Manuka Smoke.

Same long for scent of maple trees,
Some for the scent of oak,
While others yearn to smell once more
Scent of manuka smoke.
That scent of hills and mountain vales
Which holds the memory
Of bridle tracks and lonely shacks
And bush fraternity.
The mi-mi in the sheltered bend,
The raupo-fringed lagoon,
The ducks that came before the dawn,
The clouds that crossed the moon.
The royal stag high on a crag,
The wild boar in the fern,
The horses on the tussock flats,
The cattle by the burn.
The misty falls and azure lakes,
The rise of trout at eve,
The men who told those yarns of old
The yarns we can't believe.
The silver of the tui's songs
Among the rata flowers,
The winding creeks and snowy peaks,
The magic gloaming hours.
The wisp of smoke that drifts along
At billy time of day,
The camp-fire gleaming through the dusk
To welcome all to stay.
The murmur of the mountain streams,
Song of the rod and reel;
To those who've smelt manuka smoke
Will all such things appeal.
To the wanderers overseas
Just send some twigs to burn,
Then gather guns and fishing rods
For soon they will return.
There's some who long for scent of gums,
Some for the scent of oak,
But for the sweetest scent of all
Give me manuka smoke.