The Imaginary Museum

The latest brief ( #36 - The NZ Music Issue (2008): 111-13) includes what seems to me a fantastically generous review of my poetry chapboo...

[I do have a bunch of photos I took of our little jaunt, but I must be one of the very few people still using an old-fashioned film camera...

Yes, it's that time again! Poetry junkets are in the air. Here's the nzepc crew setting off for Stewart Island in Easter 2006. This...

Well, thanks again to everyone who managed to come along to the booklaunch on Wednesday - to Scott Hamilton for launching the book with such...

You are all most cordially invited to a booklaunch, on WEDNESDAY 13TH JUNE 4.15 pm Bennetts Book Shop Massey Albany (Come off the northern m...

While I was travelling around Asia in 2001-2002, I wrote some poems in Hong Kong, some more in Thailand, and finally a whole bunch in India....

Two things are degrading to a man: Learning that is superficial, Sexual enjoyment that is paid for And dependence on another for food. – The...

Possibly these are rather uncharitable reflections, but the way to operate here seems to be to ask yourself, “What’s the scam?” whenever a l...

At the royal gate and in a crematorium, One who stands by others is indeed a true friend. – The Hitopadesha No Fear Umbrella on a motorbike ...

END OF TRAIL Seventh level of the waterfall … The best pool was definitely number three, with a little cave behind the waterfall where one c...

A king, a family woman, a Brahmin, A minister and breasts; When displaced from their proper positions, Do not appear attractive. – The Hitop...

At the train station. Romance of the departing express. “The onlookers go rigid as the train goes by …” (Kafka). Copying down the sights – h...

The following should not be trusted: Rivers, persons holding weapons, Those with claws and horns, Women and royal families. – The Hitopadesh...

I would rather have stayed in the temple. That’s the point I need to stress. There was a moment when the chanting began, and the curtains we...

A woman is like a jar of ghee, A man is like a hot charcoal. So a wise man should not keep the two together. – The Hitopadesha Chris I’ve b...

At the Burmese border. Half of us are paying 250 baht for the privilege of crossing. I can’t see the point myself. For virtually the first t...

If free scope is granted to her, Slavery sits on the head – The Hitopadesha Mekong Sunset Lines of inundation sap the fields dream landscap...

Sign in the foyer: Drug addicts are mentally sick people. Drug addiction, then, indicates mental sickness. Curing mental sickness is the onl...

To one whose feet are covered by shoes, Is it not indeed As if the entire earth were covered by leather? – The Hitopadesha Ban Rim Lai Elep...

There are four different species of opium poppy – white, purple, pink and red. We’re standing beside a field of them now. “Quite beautiful,”...