‘til the dreams of a better land
where the verdant Kauaeranga rolls down
a river
a bed
for meditation on summer tanned rocks
further north
northeast to Kennedy’s Bay
the call of the morepork echoing through the dusk
and the bush rat that woke me from my whare slumber
scampering heavy across the sleeping bag
in search of food
carefree tramping through head high manuka
past stilled mining mills and kauri dams abandoned
no gold here except in friendship and laughter shared
we dived for crays you and I
off Coromandel’s rugged shore
in a kelp forest that seemed to wave goodbye
and perhaps it was
still dreaming of a better land
