The Friday Poem: ‘Last words’ by Bill Manhire

23 Jun 2017

Culture

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New verse – he wrote it on Wednesday, actually – by Wellington writer Bill Manhire.

Last words

It’s nice out there,

says the dying man.

Yes, says the doctor,

not too bad at all.

Bill Manhire, 2017

The Spinoff Review of Books is brought to you by Unity Books.

Bill Manhire

Bill Manhire is the founder of the International Institute of Modern Letters writing programme at Victoria University of Wellington. His most recent books are Some Things to Place in a Coffin (VUP, 2017), Tell Me My Name (VUP, 2017; riddles set to music by Norman Meehan and sung by Hannah Griffin), and Wow (VUP, 2020). Bill was born in Invercargill in 1946.

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