letter to the governor

Deep South v.3. n.3. (Spring 1997)

letter to the governor

lest we rememble the sea birds

     clamour for bread
     beaches
          to ourselves

which perch upon a rock

     full tide making
     conversation

when the tide flows the rock is covered
by the sea and the birds take flight

     the first pohutukawa
     blossom
          sheds its message

for they have no resting place

          *

the first chief leaps ashore and casts
his feathers in the tide
                    he has seen the
tree bearing finer feathers in a bolder
red