It takes a lifetime to learn
the lay of this land:
river, creek, mountain, gully
Mt Roy, Treble Cone, Black Peak, Mt Burke
Mt Gold, Mt Maude, Motatapu, Matukituki
The lake, the lawn
Skylines, snowlines, fishing lines, washing lines:
the ties that bind
resonant, etched on your mind's eye,
your memory
After a long time living
breathing, here
You will know the daintiness
and fragility of birds
the clarity of light
and the certainty of frost -
After a life of standing in moonlit driveways and
dark gardens, craning to catch
the Southern Cross
You will know, and remember all this
so when you leave, you will feel the loss
the sing and pull of the line
that leads you
home.
This poem was first published in The Kiwi Diary, 2014.
It is written after Dennis Glover's poem of the same name. Glover's poem is itself aware of Robert Browning's poem, Home Thoughts from Abroad.
Poetry Atlas has a number of other poems about New Zealand.
The Matukituki River and Black Peak near Wanaka, Otago, New Zealand