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Small Park
In 1912 there was no Small Park…
Instead, orderly rows of workers' cottages
No thriving native plants in gardens
reminders and remainders
of untamed forest encroaching stealthily
on farms clinging to the city's edge...
In this urban oasis of calm
in 2012
a seat or two on which to contemplate
the plantings on either side the soft green lawns
and orderly path
blades of Cabbage Trees rattle in a gust
the gloss of Griselinia
the fragrance of pittosporum
in a tiny place of stillness...
in 1912 replaced by roses perhaps,
scorned in the land which bore them.
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Comment by mark thomas prisco on February 8, 2012 at 10:28 -
Excellent. Calm stillness - with a rhythm to suit, controlled; ambling along at it's own quiet pace.
the gloss of Griselinia
the fragrance of pittosporum
in a tiny place of stillness...
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Comment by hamish withers on February 2, 2012 at 12:41 -
As usual you write well. You are great at setting the scene. I like yr consideration of history and what was before. Have u read the book "Off the Sheeps Back" by Jack Richards? Richards family were pioneers in NZ and cleared bush in a remote area. He was a champion sheerer. His book has some interesting info and pics of how NZ used to be.
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