| Wordsworth

Readers were invited to send in a short poem describing the behaviour of any New Zealand-dwelling bird.

Anne Martin of Helensville writes: Mynah bird, haughty beak held high,/ Strolls insolently away from approaching traffic./It will not deign to fly.

John Edgar, Christchurch: In the middle of the night,/I heard a crazy kea/ Sliding down the hut’s tin roof/Like some Olympic skier.

Katherine Uren, Auckland: Fantails flicker/near us but quicker./ They dart and cavort/in a midge-catching sport.

Nozz Fletcher, Waikawa: We blamed the kids for eating the chocolate,/ Then saw the pukeko running off with it.

Beverley Randell, Wellington: On the stony coast,/bobbing his tail, a pipit/ probes for small morsels.

Tony Clemow of Kamo: Pīwakawaka has a tail/suggestive of a fan./It ducks and dives along a trail/for insects stirred by man./ This mini acrobat in locus/has with man a symbiosis;/yet sapiens are not aware/they merely serve to serve up fare.

Eileen van Trigt, Greytown: I’m not a particular lover/Of the Aussie spur-winged plover/ This expat bird/Makes sure he’s heard/When in a crowd/He’s brash and loud/His raucous cry a pain to the ears/He’s probably had too many beers.

This week’s winner is David Wort, Bay of Plenty: A warning to every first-time trekker:/Nobody’s safe when it comes to the weka./He’s quick, he’s slick, his clowning deceives./He is the red-eyed prince of thieves.

For the next contest, send in a fourline poem describing a memorable journey, or an experience of culture shock you had while travelling. Rhyming is not compulsory. Entries, for the prize below, close at noon on Thursday, May 3.