A Poem by Bill Manhire

Domestic Interior

The willowy blonde
loves trees
of course she does

She walks on the riverbank
beside the trees
and sings her willow song

Now fair and fatal rose the sun
and now began to kill
the many souls on whom it shone
and yet it meant no ill

I heard her voice and its despair
and saw that scribbling on the air

I’m full, says the child
I’m full mummy

Bill Manhire’s most recent publication, Wow, is a Poetry Book Society Recommendation. As well as poetry, he has published volumes of short fiction, and has edited a number of anthologies – most notably The Wide White Page, which brings together a range of imaginative writings about Antarctica. He lives in Wellington, New Zealand.