Hone Tuwhare ... Poet

New Zealand had a wonderful poet, sadly now departed from this earth, whose writings are inspirational.

I never learned of him until recent years. He spent his final years living at the seaside near by New Zealand home. I did meet this poet; a man with wisdom and a wonderful sense of humour.

Many of his works are delightful, most resonate with New Zealanders. The following is short; his use of words carefully considered, and used with greatness.

Wind song and rain by Hone Tuwhare

A poem is

a ripple of words

on water wind huffed

But still water

is a poem winded; a

mirrored distortion

of sky

and mountain

trees; and a drowned

face waiting

for a second wind

(a second coming?)

rain

oblivion

Ripple of words

on water.

Is Your Ego in Bloom?

Some time when you're feeling important,

Some time when your ego's in bloom,

Some time when you take it for granted,

You're the best qualified in the room,

Some time when you feel that your going,

Would leave an unfillable hole,

Just follow this simple instruction,

And see how it humbles your soul.

Take a bucket and fill it with water,

Put your hand in it up to your wrist,

Pull it out and thehole that's remaining

Is the measure of how much you'll be missed.

You may splash all you please when you enter,

You can stir up the water galore,

But stop, and you'll find in a minute,

That it looks quite the same as before.

The moral in this quaint example,

Is ... do just the best you can,

Be proud of yourself, but remember,

There is no indispensable man.

Monkey Business

Three monkeys sat in a coconut tree

Discussing things as they're meant to be;

Said one to the others, "Now listen you two,

There's a certain rumour that can't be true,

That man descended from our noble race;

The very idea! ~ it's a dire disgrace;

No monkey ever deserted his wife,

Starved her baby, or ruined her life,

And you've never known a mother monk

to leave her babies with others to bunk

Or pass them on from one to another,

Till they scarcely know who is their mother,

And another thing. You'll never see

A monk build a fence around a coconut tree,

And let the coconuts go to waste,

Forbidding all other monks a taste.

Why, if I put a fence around this tree

Starvation would force you to steal from me.

Here's another thing a monk won't do;

Go out at night and get in a stew;

Or use a club, a gun, a knife

To take some other monkey's life.

Yes man descended, the ornery cuss,

But brother, he didn't descend from us!"

I have had these words of wisdom pasted into a book for over a decade, but sorry, do not know who the author is.