Live Encounters Poetry & Writing Volume Three November-December 2024
Aotearoa Poets and Writers Special Edition
Classical Allusions, poem by Piers Davies.
Classical Allusions
1
MEMENTO MORI
We no longer die
but merely pass away
leaving a clutch
of smiling photos.
2
MEMO TO MY BANK MANAGER
Arriving at the river Styx
with my double platinum credit card
I discover Charon only accepts cash
so I’m trapped here for a hundred years.
3
TOWARDS ARCADIA
Seduced by words
blinded by metaphors
we stumble across
a poetic landscape
seeking the elusive image—
the essence of being.
4
ET IN ARCADIA EGO
In the village
of the nearly dead
the gardens are precise
and multi-coloured
the lawns mowed by robots
all trees are banned
and no birds sing.
© Piers Davies
Piers Davies was born in Sydney, Australia but has lived most of his life in Auckland, Aotearoa New Zealand. He is a Law of the Sea specialist having graduated with an LL.B from Auckland University and a Diploma in ECL from the City of London College. He has been a long-time writer and reciter of poetry. His poems have appeared in journals and anthologies in New Zealand, Australia, U.K., France, Switzerland, South Africa, Poland, U.S.A., and India. Four books/chapbooks of his poetry have been published. He is co-facilitator of Titirangi Poets and co-editor of Titirangi Poets Ezines and anthologies. He was a scriptwriter of feature films (Homesdale and The Cars that Ate Paris (Australia) and Skin Deep (New Zealand)), short films and documentaries. He was sometime Poet Laureate of Haringey, London.