Coromandel’s Collaborative Magazine

Common Ground – Locals’ Creative Space

POEMS

 Cross Over 

Te Puru, Coromandel

A pied shag poses 
cruciform black 
against the cyclone-ready sea.
Cirrus clouds are beginning
to accumulate
into wildness behind her.

This is her liminal time:
Will she stay or will she go?

Hard to remain, betwixt and between, to scan the shifting threshold of the tide,
to be willing to wait to see which way the current flows.

In transition, 
an ambiguous balance
on the boundary.

The shag angles her neck
 to left and right,
shivers her stretched wings 
so slowly,

surely 
she can feel
the wind 
beneath
her perfectly framed 
feathers.

by Ceridwyn Parr

Wisdom of age 

Walking past an elderly chap who was fishing on the beach.
I was drawn to make a connection, see what lessons he had to teach. 
My introduction line, have you had any luck today. 
Was greeted with a couple of bites and the one that got away. 
We talked about the weather, as he was happy just to chat.
So I pulled out my one liner, it’s a bit windy for a hat. 
Not much else was said but from his eyes I learnt a lot. 

Be thankful for today, grateful for what you’ve got.

Words by Paul Cate

Maungauika

We walk the edge of the headland
Where the stone meets the sand
I watch the light skip over the sea
Hurtling towards me
I always wander slow
To notice how the rock bends with time
The softness of water 

Can change the most stubborn of shorelines
You’re ahead of me
Waiting with the dogs
But I’m looking at the colours under my feet
I don’t want to hurry to meet
The hour
I’m listening to the power of an old river
That cooled and froze as fire
Shapes in a story 
I read as my own 
I can feel sorry but never alone

The trees write an ode
Weave their roots into rock
Anchor me to the possible 
Each cliff face a clock
You stand in the stillness
Morning new in your eyes
I marvel at the maunga 
Sleeping in the sky
We turn before the tide does
I return to your side

Song lyrics by local artist FĒI LÍN 

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