A new work by our leading political poet.
When Bill English grasped the reins of power last year, he plunged a concrete post of literature into the tender soils of New Zealand by reading aloud a bit of poetry.
This week, courageously, to staunch the bleeding of the national auditory canal brought on by Colin Craig’s weird thing in the courts, and just in time for the writers’ festival, Mr English (BA, Hons in English literature) delivered a new poem on Facebook, which we have transcribed below.
There’s the hill out there
I can see from my Beehive window
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This is one bit where I run
And bits like this
I walk
Still walking
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It’s quite a big hill
But it’s always worth it
For the view
And it gets better
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I’m running this bit
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Now you’re thinking
Is it him?
Yup
It is
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Not just a voiceover
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This is the bit where you feel fast
This bit makes you feel slow
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It’s pretty good
To be able to do it.