I’m not sure where this came from but it’s kinda fun in a morbid way. Also, the pohutukawa mentioned in the poem is what the flower is in the picture. Like it’s a whole tree but the flower looks like that. They are a pretty dope tree, You should google them.

Just a small poem to remind people that we should always try to help those that come after us.

This one was just a bit of fun. Kind of 20s styled vanity with a bit of casual insecurity about one’s ability to speak well. Not that I would have any issues about that.

This is a poem based on an idea that I always hear here in New Zealand. Like it’s great to be self made but people feel like since they did something that anyone can do it. One of the phrases that I hate the most is “pull yourself up by your bootstraps” as if our national shoe isn’t the jandal (this line kinda hits. Maybe I’ll chuck it in a poem at some point). But back to my train of thought, not everyone has “bootstraps” to pull up and I feel like we should help out others as much as we can. Now that may be because I come from a teaching background but sometimes I just wish that people would take the time to listen to others and maybe implement a system that helps the many live the lives they want instead of the few.

I normally explain a little about my poetry in this space but for this one I want to leave it up to you. Leave your theories in the comments and I’ll reply to them.

I like the idea of writing poetry based on an image or a painting and so I picked the image you see above (to the left if you’re on desktop) to write about. I saw this portrait when I first visited the art museum in Kagoshima and I just really love it. It’s got a lovely pastel colour scheme and I feel like the boy is just at peace. It’s an image that I think of from time to time and it felt nice to be able to write something about it that plays off the feelings I get from the poem.

This poem is based on several different experiences that I’ve had and the over all sense of anxiety one gets when meeting someone for the first time. I’m not sure if it is overly relatable to everyone but it’s honest to me I guess.

I used a writing prompt for this one that was literally “write a poem about a mirror” and this is what came out. It is kind of stream of consciousness which is a little different than how I usually write but I thought I would try it so let me know what you think and if I should experiment more with it.

I went to a get together in the weekend to see a friend and while I was there I mentioned that something was “alright” and the person I was talking to took that in a kind of negative way. It’s a thing I’ve noticed where people take terms that mean “average” or “just above average” and think they are negative. It happens to me occasionally so I wrote this poem based on the idea of using “average” language to kind of hide the negative connotations of the situation.

It’s also based on the work of Dorothy Parker who’s work does a similar thing where it points out the general vibes of the 1920’s and the kind of social politicking people do to avoid coming across as rude or upset people. Her work is really interesting and I highly recommend it.

I spend a lot of my time thinking about things I could or should be doing but it’s nice to be able to just chill for a day and not have to worry as much about those things. I’m not sure if other people like the rain but I definitely appreciate it for what it is.

This is a poem I started writing before I left Japan and have now finished since coming back to New Zealand. It started off as a representation of my anxieties about returning home and kind of still carries that idea to the end but is also mixed with more self reflection about the journey as a whole.

This poem is about how a place where the ocean meets the sea and two people watching it happen as they talk about life and things. Leave a comment about how it makes you feel.

There is this Spanish song that I’ve been listening to called Alfonsina y el Mar. From what I understand about the song it’s about a man who is lost at sea and how he’s never coming home again. So that’s what I based the poem on.

Started making it.

Had a breakdown.

Bon appétit.

The idea of freedom has come up a lot recently so I thought I would write a poem about the concept of freedom with inspiration from Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird by Wallace Stevens.

Also, thank you to my Instagram followers who also contributed their ideas about freedom. Hopefully I have done those ideas justice in this.

This poem is a rough first draft and I would appreciate if people could share their feedback with me.

I’ve been listening to The Weeknd’s newest album Dawn FM and this poem comes from that listening experience.

I wrote this poem a while ago when I heard about some people that I used to work with passing in quick succession. I started thinking about death and loss and this is what came out of it.

This is a poem I wrote based off of a “word blob” (The words for this word blob were: Sunshine, car, map, tomorrow) that a friend gave me. I quite like the challenge of piecing together random words and trying to make a cohesive narrative out of them.

If you want to give me a “word blob” to use then feel free to chuck a few words in the comment section and I may turn them into a poem.