page 24

Hilltop

Come and sit where Salamanca
Overlooks the smoky city,
Look to where the blackened coal-hulks
Lie there rotting at their anchor.

Far across the shining water
Dreams the old Orongo-rongo,
Hazy purple, steeped in sunshine,
Mist-enshrouded lovely ranges.

Look to where the Rimutakas
Proudly rear their snow-capped summits,
Glist'ning coldly in the sunshine
Bloodstained in the crimson sunset.

Sit there as the primrose twilight
Deepens into softest purple,
See the hillside lights a-twinkle,
See the town-lights on the harbour!

In the night-sky's velvet blackness
Watch the little stars appearing,
Twinkling golden, silver, crystal,
Sometimes shooting through the darkness.

Look towards Orongo-rongo
Where the moon is rising silent
From the blackness of the mountains;
Creeping silver o'er the water.

Feel the night-wind's breath upon you,
Smell the scent of gorse upon it,
Feel the cool grass underneath you
On the hill at Salamanca.

—P.Q.