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Kia ora koutou, Hello to you all,

It’s been a busy four years (where does the time go??) but I am happy to announce the publication of my fifth book of poems, Circumstance and Serendipity. Like my previous poems, the ones in this book scrutinise and celebrate the commonplace- the objects, occurrences, conversations, and feelings all around us. And they do so in accessible language so that newcomers as well as seasoned veterans of poetry can enjoy them. In fact, I’ve gone even further in this book to welcome those who may be intimidated by reading poetry by including some brief commentary after each poem– nothing too obvious I hope but just enough context to render the poem even more accessible.

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).