CARP
Toe? old to mock, too wise to weep He plies his grown indifference. Up and up and up he swims Through tangled root and weed, Up from the years of tallen leat And long drowned dragonfly, Up past petals as they silter down Pale in the graduated gloom. Up, up from the layered years That lie so calm and cold and lost, Up swims this black and time gnarled Shape, the undisputed carp. And down, down, down Sinks all that summer spent, The gold, the rose, the green, The wanton primrose time. Who hears the echo of a lover’s words? Who sees the naked shoulders gleam? Who sees the life of a house go out, Witt fishy eyes how some arrive ' And how, time wrecked, the same depart? © Who counts a laugh a tear a sigh As petals in the breeze? Who, pleasuring in sun and mud alike Totals existence with a swallowed fly?
Eric Stewart
Tattersall
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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/periodicals/NZLIST19591002.2.36
Bibliographic details
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New Zealand Listener, Volume 41, Issue 1049, 2 October 1959, Page 19
Word count
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158CARP New Zealand Listener, Volume 41, Issue 1049, 2 October 1959, Page 19
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Copyright in the work University Entrance by Janet Frame (credited as J.F., 22 March 1946, page 18), is owned by the Janet Frame Literary Trust. The National Library has been granted permission to digitise this article and make it available online as part of this digitised version of the New Zealand Listener. You can search, browse, and print this article for research and personal study only. Permission must be obtained from the Janet Frame Literary Trust for any other use.
Copyright in the Denis Glover serial Hot Water Sailor published in 1959 is owned by Pia Glover. The National Library has been granted permission to digitise this serial and make it available online as part of this digitised version of the Listener. You can search, browse, and print this serial for research and personal study only. Permission must be obtained from Pia Glover for any other use.
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