The Shining Cuckoo

There, where the willow bursts her early buds
And where the kowhai droops her clustered gold,
Where the magnolia lifts her curving limbs
The pipiwharauroa comes again;
Long and so sweet he calls till Spring's first day
Dies in a windless dusk and songs are done.
Then the round moon swings high above the hills
And drowns the brightest stars. Oh, pale and cool
Sleeps the old town behind her shuttered doors;
Only the night-wind dancing on her way
Flits as a dream about the silent streets.

—M.L.