Keith Nunes is a former newspaper sub-editor who delights in poetry. He's been published widely Down Under and was Highly Commended in the NZ Poetry Society's International Poetry Competition. He lives in rural Bay of Plenty with whacky artist Talulah Belle and a coterie of nutty animals.

Keith Nunes

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temperance day

the sharp-eyed sun catches you staring
into a pockmarked past made ridiculous
by two fingers above a helmet head

she's got her hands on your neck
and you're not surprised the moths are leaving you

a ruminating refugee asks you for a light
you give him a lecture and 2kg of explosives

it's no use, there's no explaining
why the three wise men didn't hang around;
and how 7 billion equals 12 wars and 9 rigged elections
you'd have to breathe very hard to climb that one
keeping the last-chance dolphin in sight
and postcard gnomes in their garden bars
anyway,
you can hide down here
we're developing into streams of uncommonly bright light