There’s the Hill Out There: A poem by Bill English, prime minister of New Zealand

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.