The pohutakawa are on time,
wash of red
splashing across folds of green:
Meandering through airy
steeples of conical pine,
meeting wind shaped remnants
of shelter screens.
Crimson bloom emerging, rising:
Too soon, flora’s display
fading before waves’ incessant fall.
These wordless voices - nature moving –
a presence indifferent
to beauty’s dance
before the human eye.
The flower of life is easily bled
From humanity’s continuing bloom:
The crimson flow of war and want
Calling justice, peace to stem the loss.
Personal grief, surging cries, casting
pain at expedient powers:
Greening fronds too simply lost.
Christmas is near - fiery bloom
beckons the day - red and green
the northern New Zealand Way.
A coastal scene, benign, serene,
a flash of red, textured green,
a sacred place for rest and peace
Life the Word may be seen.
© John Fairbrother
10 December 2014
Image www.stpeterscatholic.school.nz
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