Live Encounters Poetry & Writing Volume One Nov-Dec 2026.
In the next beyond, poems by Piet Nieuwland.
In the next beyond
Welcome to the forest of echoes and bracelets of stars
commotions of birds on blossoming wings
the impeccable geometry of kauri conifer cones
singing mythologies of waterways and ecstasies of Otuihau cascades
the silent shimmer of dawn across the inlet
the warm feminine breath of night that seeks to shape storms to calm
sharing with clarity, humanity and simplicity of expression
the tidal change
about indigenous brilliance and life support systems
blooming in the noise of the whirlwind with Gaia and Taara
floating to an emerald shore on slow cloud
Over the estuary
You are dressed in the colour of the heart
I am the dampness of your winter
and tend your young sunlight in rooms above the street
you are night in the star of the city
the cascade of a Chopin concerto spilling down the valley
wings of a gull splintering the air
a transparent flower ripe with grain
window to the mirror of water
In essence
With the accent of her bare arms
time falls from the trees
I walk balancing landscapes on the path of a motionless storm
corroded by a desolation of blue
that reveals music held in the celestial memory
inclined by a sudden glow of knives and equatorial events
a pale lily held in the emptiness of mirrors
on the flat grey cadence of the harbour
poised beneath the ecstasy of air / mist over the sea
a narrow banner / the migration of souls
a flex of wings
© Piet Nieuwland
Piet Nieuwland lives in Whangarei, Aotearoa New Zealand. His poems and flash fiction appear in print and online journals in Australia, USA, India, Aotearoa, Antarctica and elsewhere. His latest books, As light into water, We enter the, and Anticipation are published by Cyberwit. He is publisher/managing editor of Fast Fibres Poetry, an annual anthology from Te Tai Tokerau Northland. He participates in visual art exhibitions, live poetry performances, writes book reviews and is occasionally asked to judge poetry competitions. He once worked as a conservation strategist for Te Papa Atawhai. www.pietnieuwland.com