lemon entries

We went to a country fair the other day. Homemade cakes and jams, displayed behind a little fence. Horses and pigs and rabbits and geese. Heifers and Rovers. Roosters of every hue. And all day, sheep were shorn.
Photo: Lemon prizes and entries
Clareville A + P Show, New Zealand

Looking and looking

Looking at people 
looking at a photograph 
of an oil refinery.
Photo: At Saatchi Gallery, London

the first day of

Some people see Sunday as the first 
day of the week, and some see 
Monday. Of course every day 
we live is the first day of the rest.
Photo: Roses at the home, Wairarapa

room number nine

This is the door to room number Nine.
A small home on one side of a hallway, 
the shared kitchen and bath at the end. 
Photo: Electricity meter readings by Room 9, 
Shamshuipo, Hong Kong

spotlight?

I like the relationship 
between the woman 
and the shadow. 
Somehow a spotlight. 
Or a word. 
Maybe an echo.
Photo: In my Tai Hang neighborhood, Hong Kong

smell collection

Neighbors of ours have two big pigs, so as I walk out to the mailbox to collect letters, I collect their smell first.
Photo: Pigs at Kadoorie Farm, Hong Kong

news and bodies

In the past few days, several friends have sent health-related news. I am thinking of you and your bodies. And mine. All of us.
Photo: An installation at Detour, Hong Kong

a pocket of sky

Here is a niece, here is a nephew.
For hours we were together in a museum.
After a while, we also wanted to see sky.
We found this window pocket.
Photo: G and H at The Louvre

trying to walk along water

I remember trying to walk along the harbour  in Hong Kong. Access to sea can be limited. The waterfront from Northpoint to Tin Hau mostly a mixture of vacant lot and parking lot, a ferry pier, and high rises of homes and hotels, gated. 
Photo: Looking from Fortress Hill through the typhoon shelter 
to Causeway Bay, Hong Kong

get it done

Today is Labo(u)r Day in New Zealand 
and I wish and do not wish 
I had work to do.
Photo: A Statue in a friend's garden, London

purple enclosure

This rhododendron tree is about 120 years old, 
and the deep purply space under it feels older.
I stayed there enclosed 
one rainy afternoon.
Photo: At Carrington House, Carterton, New Zealand

softly sweetly

We're hosting several events today.
May we live softly, sweetly, beautifully.
Photo: A square I made for a community quilt
Greytown Arts Festival
Cotton and words on canvas

don't hold too long

"Poetry is always an attempt 
to hold what we love 
a little longer" 
- Mark Doty
Photo: A square I made for a community quilt, 
Greytown Arts Festival
Yarn from Morocco, string, pin from New York, canvas

purple brain

Photo: A square I made as part 
of a patchwork quilt for the 
Greytown Arts Festival this weekend.
The runaway thread is from thick purple socks.

going down

Doorways undercity.
Photo: A walkway, Hong Kong

cog

Today we sent a mound 
of documents to an office. 
Will each 
of the 250 certified sheets 
really be seen?
Photo: Parts of a tram, Hong Kong

here is a piece of my mind

Here is a piece of my mind.
Photo: Windfallen flowers, New Zealand

under the tree

'And over and over I tried to see
Some of us walking under the tree,
And the children playing everywhere,
And how it looks when I am there.'
Photo: Under an 120-year-old rhododendron tree, New Zealand
Text: An excerpt of the Elizabeth Madox Roberts poem 'On The Hill'
from the book Under The Tree, first published in 1922.
My father William Henry Slavick wrote the Afterword.

tree cradle

A tree and cradle
on a rainy day.
Photo: Carterton, New Zealand

city city

I wrote many stories about this city
and somehow, they all seem
to live on this street.
Photo: Mongkok, Hong Kong

cat and bird

One day, as I walking,
I saw a cat and bird, also.
Photo: Victoria Park, Hong Kong

different breathing

Yesterday I was in a city
after many weeks of rural living.
Such different breathing.
Photo: Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong

room for all of us

We once arrived at this lake at the same time as about thirty geese, skidding. Black swan, white swan, grey swan, and how many ducks. 
There is room for all of us.
Photo: Henley Lake, Masterton, New Zealand
'Room for all of us' is by Charles Dickens.

night walk

Lit moment.
Photo: Pokfulam village, Hong Kong

Hong Kong sidewalk

I love Hong Kong sidewalks. So much life. 
Maybe fruit drying. Medicinal herbs. Or towels. 
And chairs are left out for the viewing.
Photo: Along Marble Road, Northpoint, Hong Kong

homes

In the distance, a tower recently built for many wealthy families.
In the foreground, a mansion built years ago for one.
Photo: Stubbs Road, Hong Kong

I am thinking of Lamma

A few nights ago, two ferries collided off
Lamma Island, where I used to live. 
Many people died. Many people 
are frightened. I am thinking of you all.
Photo: Outside an empty storefront, Hong Kong

rivery love

Two of the many things I love
in one: rivers in a tree.
Photo: Tree stump, New Zealand

ready?

Hello. Ready?
I have many 
sudden deadlines.
Photo: Light switch, New Zealand

maybe free?

Maybe when we count down to zero, 
the groceries will be free?
Photo: Our supermarket, Masterton, New Zealand

bark

Whenever I touch the bark
of an old tree, I feel full
and do not want to speak.
Sometimes, when the cows get
very hungry, they eat bark.
Photo: Tree in a nature reserve, New Zealand