Papatoetoe Poems by Tony Beyer

1 Early Days

the billy that rang empty
on its hook against the gate post
last thing at night
was full of the colour of starlight at dawn


2 Originals

them kumaras is really gallopin now
Mr Kilgour in braces and hobnail boots
he'd stamp and click on the path
like a horse modestly skittish in its stall

when he came over to use our phone
party line 796D
he shouted as if he believed
a hollow and

Sugarloaf hill by Bill Sutton

I like to start my morning walks

earlier in late summer

before the Hawke�s Bay heat engine

gets going
and the flies start up.



There are people already

some with dogs...

we smile and exchange

handfuls of words.



Scratches in the dirt

like some post-modernist

literary text

signify a rabbit



and I see the ragwort

is making a comeback

from spraying and

Grave secrets by Helen Bascand

If you should bury me,

as I have requested

with my hands clasped,

bury me wearing this bird