they came from the towns & provinces
the rough gullies & the tom forests
a chance to see the world
or at least more of it
than you get in the Herald
training-camp tightened their illusions
the bloated sergeant the acquisitive lieutenant
it came down after that
to a few songs &
good time before embarking
that sad fatuous knot of love for a bitch
they would never hold or trust again –
when dawn broke
it was first man to fall
for the oldest line in history
the camera finds them
wings at all angles
above a cleft
in the hill a sky that
could be blue or grey. kuaka.
thirty years on
a faded photograph
they've circled impatiently
ready to demand
that you pick up your feathers
kuaka. & also
the ribs of earth
jutting out against the wind,
the salt wind,
the marram grass
kuaka.