Best New Zealand Poems

In the tea trees to the whistling song thrush
  I alone hear the first September dawn,
and outside beyond ryegrass, fern and rush 
  glisten woolly coats of sheep early shorn. 
Smell the petrichor and jade scented hedge,
  the lambs, the honey bees...

Continue reading...

I do my best to heal
                                   Water tries to flow
 ...

Continue reading...

The story is told of a Maori King bold
Who dared cheat the Prince of Siam.
I’ll leave it to you to decide if its true.
But if you're not convinced, at least I am!

This king was annoyed so he filled his bored void
By selling the fauna of...

Continue reading...

The dark, drenched forest
was tinkling with tuis and bellbirds,
blind to the ledger book,
the bill of lading,
the glint in the eye of the ax.

Pious settlers wired the land for religion
and switched on the lights.
The natives were dazzled,
but loved the portly man in the red suit
who gave...

Continue reading...

"Doth if not thrill thee, Poet,
Dead and dust though thy art,
To feel how I press thy singing
Close to my heart?"

Close to my heart you came
When of you I learned of horror
How you were locked to tame
The depression trapped though error

In insane asylum
Years of electro shock...

Continue reading...

During a tour in this island nation, 
a Maori guide was seeking a nomination.

Among our tour he sought out a spokesman,
to respond to the chief's words, as a small token.

"Sir, will you represent your touring tribe?"
"Yes," I responded, "for a very large bribe!"

I wanted to...

Continue reading...

Aotearoa
the land of the long white cloud...
dignity in bloom.

© Harry j Horsman 2012...

Continue reading...

Memories of him are still there upon Weymouth Road
his sullen white cross nailed to the old Kauri
symbolize by countless layers of uncaring street wise graffiti,
while burdensome scars revealed by heavy metal grow faint
and the old Rose i placed withered and faded
in the over grown yet...

Continue reading...

The USA media is going to kill us all
Giving the shooters fame
We should be more like New Zealand
“A coward walked into a grade school”.
They never had another school shooting....

Continue reading...

Despite my requesting to both of you
to travel along with you in our car,
Dad, you didn't agree to take; Mom you too
just smiled, didn't pursue, left me in despair.

'twas last time seen you both, felt you didn't care for
left me in house alone, don't know...

Continue reading...

Incarcerated

Love for humanity? truth?

Breaking the net; soon !...

Continue reading...

In the land of Aotearoa, where stories intertwine,
Where the waves caress the shores, and mountains proudly shine,
I raise my voice to honor those who came before,
As a descendant of Karitane, a Maori forevermore.

From the ancient mists of time, our ancestors arose,
Guided by the stars, their...

Continue reading...

I'm ready if you are.
Steadily walking past wekas, canoes, sailboats, motorboats, along concrete paths, down ash-felt slopes
Across intersecting car trails
Drawn only by the beckoning beach.

Feet slipping over Northland's rough green grass
Damp, spongy, smooth grit of coarse golden sand
Surrounding bush covered hill houses
Silently call your name,...

Continue reading...

We are not islands
We of the islands of N and Z placed together
There are three of us

If we were islands
We would lie in the sea
Sunbathing
Waves would lap over us
Playfully tickle our sandy shores
Crash against our rocky cliffs
Throw seaweed onto our beaches.
We would see each other
On...

Continue reading...

Hectors Dolphins are listed as, endangered
and a sub-species, Maui’s Dolphin are critically endangered
with only about 55 left, in New Zealand’s shallow waters
in the North Island eastern shores, is their home with borders

Hector Dolphins dorsal fin, looks like Mickey Mouse’s ear
and they are the smallest and...

Continue reading...