Jollie Brook

Strewn out across old river terraces

we walk through tall tussock-grasses

to the beech forest and honey-dew wasps,

and a quick scramble down to the edge of the lake;

then, after lunch and a quick, cold, paddle,

we walk single-file over tree-canopied saddle

to - wouldn’t you know it? -

a creek too wide to jump, just in front of the hut!

With washing hung out on matagouri hooks

and after a good solid meal with my companions,

I put a boot over the mouse-hole in the kitchen

and we each retire for the night.

Come morning, we set off down Jollie Brook,

sometimes on an unmarked route through the water,

sometimes on a sheep track high over a bluff,

back out to tussock-covered river flats and - the van.

Ostensibly,

    a group of friends walking together,

        but each on her own -

            individual -

                journey!

        © Valerie Laura

        18 December 2009

Jollie Brook Hut

Old river terraces

and tall tussock grasses

to the beech forest,

with a scramble to the edge of the lake;

lunch, a paddle,

and a tree-canopied saddle

to - wouldn’t you know it? -

a creek just in front of the hut;

finally-soaked feet,

a good solid meal and

a boot over the mouse-hole

before heading to bed!

Water and high bluffs,

gorse and matagouri,

not to mention

harsh words and frustration.

Ah! Yes!

    Two more days along the way -

    another phase of the journey done! 

       © Valerie Laura

       20 November 2009

Pharisee and Sinner

Don’t look down on me,
    you hypocrite!

I am the part of you
    you will not acknowledge;
the part of you that has
    impulses you cannot control;
the part of you that feels
    emotions you cannot express;
the part of you that gets
    everything wrong.

You stand over me
all enshrouded in your
    cloak of self-righteousness,
like a whited sepulchre
    full of dark crooks and nannies
concealing secrets
which come out sideways
in criticism and judgement of me,
while you continue to deny
    the presence of such “sins” in your self!

I am the part of you
    you don’t want to know.

Open your eyes -

    clean out your ears.

You and I are two sides
    of the same coin!

        See me, acknowledge me,
        sit at table and eat with me,
        make me part of your life -
        so we may play and grow
            - together!

       © Valerie Laura
       20 November 2009 (edited)

Listen

Listen with care
to the words of the versifier -
crafted to catch the ear,
shaped to create an image
of life as it might be -
and you may hear
the whisper of a sad heart,
shouting quietly in despair.

       © Valerie Laura
       17 October 1998

Connection

As nameless faces in the street
hasten by without speaking
and remain strangers,
faceless names on the internet
stay awhile to chat
and become friends.

    © Valerie Laura
    20 July 1998

Omihi Slip

Decomposing volcanic ash,
remainder,
reminder,
of an earlier angry age,
returning
to the sea,
to be metamorphosed,
silently,
unhindered,
before being thrown up again,
suddenly,
unannounced,
in more violent upheaval.

          © Valerie Laura

          9 August 1988