it is mine is published in ‘The Kiwi Diary 2013‘.

Cover art by Lauren Stewart.

——————

it is mine

filtered Otago light
gently criss-crosses my face
as I amble beneath black beech
singing songs to riflemen
wafting words upon the breeze
from a carpet of moss and mulch
that embraces my feet
with the security of the
land of my birth
i am home
i am Kiwi
and this mud
between my toes
it is mine