A commune of cows distinguished by blotches of black and brown over a wide eye, a warm rump   all eat the same grass are constrained by the same wire fence share the same old bull.

When they ask why you don’t eat meat tell a conspiracy tale about little boy cows being snatched from their mothers so we can enjoy veal with our milk.   Describe the smell of the rain-wet wool on your childhood pet lamb, the thrill of its strong thrusts to latch on the bottle with a frenzy of joy in its tail.   Mention bovine flatulence if you must, their pee and their poo in our waterways as we sweat under methane duvets and all these once-in-a-century events.   You may adm

After making her coffee and lunch in the hospice kitchen, I find respite in my book of poems which can hold a hand, an eye, an ear, but...

one royal spoonbill white against mud and mangrove dull summer

i.m. Johan Morreau, paediatrician and cricketer I’m nearing the end now pulling oars over a calm lake in some ways it’s a relief Kids and...

A wind lifts the leaves in the trees as two brown hens ruffle down in the grass and I tug my cap down to my ears pleased to not be...

There is recognition in these worn-out brick walls hung over with bougainvillea in cerise and dusty green and thick black bundles of...

We experience the sun differently but all share the same cool moon as its phases paraphrase our fortunes from Auckland to Kathmandu.

Pay for nine and get the tenth coffee free.   It’s a thing at every café in town and we’ve acquired a collection of loyalty cards to...

For years I have used more salt and pepper to bring the tasteless food to life and grieved the death of flower fragrance.   My...

The Chinese in Cornwall Park are interesting. One lady claps her hands above her head while walking slowly backwards. A man strides ahead...

I struggle to stay with the other old buggers as we grind up the gravel road from Scandretts Bay to the ridge, a Tuesday morning...

As if it is left to the dark rain-glossed trees burdened with bright ripe citrus and the long-fingered kikuyu that prowls the weathered...

O you can, can you, with your modest inscription of 4%, play the surprised innocent and deny your bullying? A mere 330ml, just a quiet...

hash browns   eggs   mushrooms   bacon   muffins at quarter to eleven With only a latte to express my pleasure I accuse myself of...

It was down to bone on bone they said, but he shouldered on as each year ground on the year before until much to do was hard to reach so...

We shouldn't personify inanimate objects It's patronising and they don't like it On my morning foreshore walk I met a stone, grey and...

I follow the news but do not set the pace teach what I was taught without invention and hook my carriage to a steady train the Thursday...

With the luxury of summer time I ride one of my bikes around the warren of dead ends in Omaha winding through the web of sandy walkways...

Thirty years, or thirty days the future hides while we close our eyes and count so we place our bets on a past track record while time...