Art Nahill’s fourth book of poetry has just been published!
Lessons From The Drought is the poet’s most personal collection to date, many of the poems having their genesis in the isolation, loneliness, and self-doubt of the pandemic but retaining the universality and accessibility of his previous work.
The brown grass says
To love a thing you must first kneel
before its absence.
From Lessons From The Drought
It’s taken some time and a whole lot of effort but we are poised to contribute the profits from the sale of Waiatarua: Reflections from an urban wetland back to the reserve in the form of beautiful and engaging educational signage (with botanical drawings by local Emma Csite and sign design by another local, Maia Szecket!). The signs will be of birds and plants that can be seen in the reserve with the hope that we will become more aware of what is around us.
Here are a few sample poems from the book:
Flax
A Southerly rouses the rabble gathered
at the borders
stiff swords upraised. I walk their gauntlet;
Thief they whisper
Invader.
It is too late for negotiation
their banners unfurling
insignia of tūī of silver-eye.
A call to arms.
Red throated trumpets
blare
in the early sunlight.
Promised
All summer
we watched over
the wild bramble of blackberries
as though it were ours
as though we’d been promised
some aliquot of sweetness
bore witness
to the flowering
then the slow setting of the fruit.
But the relentless rain has come early
the rot has set in
and now the blackbirds squabble over a few
purpled nubs of ruin.
A moving book of new poems and photographs inspired by the Waiatarua Wetland Reserve in Auckland, New Zealand. The poems included in this collection celebrate some of the bird and plan life within the reserve but are also an homage to the creative inspiration of green open spaces everywhere. The photographs help place the reader within the reserve and serve to amplify the impact of the writing. And all the proceeds after cost will be donated back to the reserve.
To purchase, contact us using the top menu of pay via PayPal using the “Buy Now” button to the right (New Zealand residents only please).
All proceeds after cost donated back to the Reserve
Order your copy now by email or the BuyNow PayPal button on the right sidebar (New Zealand residents only please)
Two Hemispheres Poetry 