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Vaughan Rapatahana

New Zealand

index

from: Angipanis of the Abanimal People - Andy Leleisi'auo

I am Kiwi, who lives and works in Hong Kong, although we keep our house back in Te Araroa, East Coast. My latest book series is entitled English Through Poetry (2007 & 2009) and is out in the U.K., Australia, and Aotearoa.

I am also published in Hong Kong, The Philippines, Malaysia, and am currently longlisted for the Proverse Prize in Literature.

Kia ora ano,

Vaughan Rapatahana

East Coast morning

sundered,

the rocks

sense

betrayal,

the

aloof

gulls   

         f

       l 

    o

  a

t

wheedling,

gyrating,

s

w

  o

  o

   ping

on 

l i n g e r I n g

scrap

token  d  r  i  f  t  w o  o  d

under    

as

the

scrawny

wavelets

taunt

the shore.

up

there,

askew

the fledgling sun,

a figure

dawdles

redolent

in

the

pohutukawa,

its

cherub

blossoms

an open

echo     echo     echo

of

his

winey

daze,

while

the frisky

gusts

invade,

deflowering

the

dawn.

james k.

i selected him

-through the gauzy pell-mell

    of pall mall & grey’s 10’s –

in the kiwi;

              that occluded haunt,

              slatternly carpet

               thr ead ba re

                   beneath

underage feet.

magpie eyes,

his nose

      a beak,

whisker wisps

stealing

d         p

   e  e 

   into

lip      crevasse,

tussling there,

spoiling

for

a

sonnet.

faint froth

        residue, rescued

  from the frightened glass,

his

- dare i say it –

anorexic claws

clutched

like an all-day roost,

arm

   p  r  o  t  r  u  d  i  n  g

from

       the dead

salvation army

       plumage

-suited him well, i have to say –

6 sizes

too BIG

for any lesser man.