see Rover

These door-handles seen
in New Zealand look 
like eyes in Nepal.
Photo: A Rover automobile, New Zealand

who's East?

In mah-jong, one of the four players is East. We used to play the game on the kitchen table. The set, maybe of ivory, was a gift from my grandmother, who purchased it on her round-the-world honeymoon almost one hundred years ago. I still love the clicking of the tiles.
Photo: Carved word on an outdoor toilet
Carterton Scenic Reserve, New Zealand

full and silvery and dusty

The Moon so bright and clear these nights.
The land and air, silvery.
I read recently that we are all stars, stardust. 
The atoms in the left hand may come from different stars than the atoms in the right.
Photo: In a shop window, Masterton, New Zealand

rainbow creeks

This creek runs so clean near our home,
unlike the dyed one created by a factory
near a city home in the 80s.
Photo: Creek, Tarathi, New Zealand

quiet ocean

In Russian, The Pacific Ocean 
is called the quiet ocean, 
and maybe these trees will sway
in a quiet wind, salty.
Photo: Carter Scenic Reserve, Wairarapa, New Zealand
Text: Thanks to Tim Jones and his essay posted on 21 November

the kiss

There we were - two people
and a lot of scenery.
Photo: Carter Scenic Reserve, New Zealand
Text: The beginning of 'The Kiss' by Elizabeth Nannestad (1956-)

when I am ten

When will I be ten again?
Photo: Me in 1972

lily happy

Once, at the flower sellers in a little alley, I saw a huge bucket full of purple-blue water lilies. I brought all forty or so of them to a friend who had invited me to her home for dinner. I didn't know it was her birthday. We were both surprisingly happy.
Photo: In a pond, Hong Kong
Thinking of A

we are all

We are all neighbo(u)rs, I have said, 
and today, Thanksgiving, I say it again.
Photo: Kerosene-soaked cotton wads, in preparation 
to launch a lantern into sky at Mid-Autumn Festival, 
my favo(u)rite holiday in Hong Kong. Thanksgiving 
is the holiday I like most from the U.S.A.

opinions and violets

Such a glorious summer island day here in the land of new zeal. I want to "drink long opinions full of violets."
Photo: At M and S Party, Auckland
Text: Excerpt from my poem 'The way we like it'
in Delicate Access, pg 114

in the light of

Happy are they who lie in the dream of their own existence, 

and see all things in the light of their own minds

Photo: At a party to celebrate love, Auckland

Text: William Hazlitt (1788-1830)

music makes blood-

Do you hear music? 
Tonight, a friend will sing her poems.

I heard her sing a few years ago and wrote a poem-portrait. Here is an excerpt:

She comes, trusts, prays, says we must make our life ‘big enough to make its own weather’, says maybe everything depends on this. This moment, this country.

She wears a superwoman t-shirt in paua colours, wants ‘hiphopcracy’ and no suffering, needs a ‘motherload’ of time to write.

There will be an amount of loss and darkness.

And enough love.

‘Music makes blood-
sugar. Leaveitplaying.’

Photo: Looking down at an alley, Hong Kong

Text: Excerpt of my poem for Hinemoana Baker, 

performing tonight with the New Zealand Poetry Society.
The words in quotes are written by Hinemoana.

tears and other tears

Tears are water, mucus and salt. 
But tears from sadness also have proteins 
that may release stress,
while tears from an open onion do not.
Photo: A container for shorn wool, Carterton, New Zealand

attention

The Real Prayers Are Not The Words, But The Attention That Comes First.
Photo: At A & P Show, Clareville Showgrounds, New Zealand
Text: Title of a poem by Mary Oliver

make words live

Erik Satie made several words 
for his different types of compositions.
Gnossienne is one. 
Two friends just made a book of the same name-word, and on the day it was unveiled: live Satie piano. 
Photo: The hand-printed title page of Gnossienne by Pat White and Catherine Day
On display in Masterton, New Zealand, until 2 Dec: 
http://www.aratoi.org.nz/exhibition/2012/10/gnossienne

yolk white blossom

'Eggflower' is what 
the Chinese call Frangipiani.
Photo: C at the engagement party 
of M and S, Auckland

coffee and kindness

How I needed the coffee 
at this roadside cafe.
And the owners were kind 
to let us eat our packed lunch too.
Photo: Fastlane Cafe, Waioru, New Zealand

swan and willow

The willow trimmed, 
like a horse, groomed.
It is swans that cut, eat 
the leaves so straight.
Photo: Willow at Western Springs
Auckland, New Zealand

sweet gift

Yesterday, we arrived home after a few days away.
Sweetness, as if the whole house, with cows and hens and cats and rooms and things,  
gift-wrapped. 
Photo: Wall with scraped-away handbills, Hong Kong

fastlane

For eight hours, the four of us -
child, man, car, me. We stopped 
at a take-away called Fastlane.
Photo: Lunch in preparation in Hiroshima

in progress

Please wait.
Photo: Sunlit construction cones, Hong Kong

road trip

On the road again. 
This time north, northwest.
Photo: A road up a hill, Hong Kong

flowerheads

Flowers are flowering these days.
First the rock roses, then roses on vines. 
Now the peonies are opening 
their magnificent heads.
Still, I almost always prefer 
the bud, the beginning.
Photo: I think it's a hibiscus, Hong Kong

what is a weed

Yesterday, several hours of weeding,
and editing. Words are plants.
Photo: From a train near Oxford, England

not a grey day

This may look like a grey day, but the day
of this photograph was full of love. 
Photo: Preparations at J and J wedding, California

various

When I look out to the paddocks around 
our home, I see animals of various 
colors and sizes and roles, 
not unlike on this day.
Photo: Near Stonehenge, New Zealand

before society

The words before this large one, I don't remember.
Photo: At Clareville showgrounds, New Zealand

gift, completed

I have always loved to wrap. The gift 
is not complete without the covering. 
The other day, the ribbon around 
the gift-books was a stray thread 
from thick purple socks. 
Photo: A hawker's bundle, Hong Kong

focus

I have a lot of work to do, so 
forgive me if I put up a fence 
against distractions.
Photo: Fence in Karori, New Zealand

any and all

The past few days have been godly
here in the New Zealand Spring.
Clear. Bright. Warm. 
Which is how I want us all to be,
including any and all gods.
Photo: Poplars, New Zealand