Live Encounters Aotearoa New Zealand Poets & Writers March 2026
The sun may set, poems by Kit Willet.
The sun may set
The sun may set
on your morning coffee,
slip behind frosted peaks,
casting shadows
on the empty page.
Perhaps the washing
is left unfolded,
the bed is still unmade,
but at least the cyclamen
has been admired,
the lemons tasted,
and isn’t that the point?
A review of the secrets I know
I’m surprised
that, of all the poets
in all the world,
none has stopped
to look up at the full moon
and remark on its mystery
as it pierces a single hole
in the cloud.
But I am alone
on the stage of this street,
and the moon has chosen me
to stand in its single spotlight.
Perhaps one day,
the moon will share its secret
with another, more worthy writer,
and it will stop begging
to be noticed.
Perhaps then
I could pay attention
to the leaves I saw
yesterday afternoon
in the cathedral canopy
with the light refracting
through their mosaic
stained glass panels
and the birds resting
in the branches behind,
or the sunrise, waiting
patiently each morning
for me to reach the vantage point
and probably getting quite annoyed
on weekends
when I sleep in.
© Kit Willett
Kit Willett (he/they) is a bisexual poet, English teacher, and executive editor of the Aotearoa poetry journal Tarot. His debut poetry collection, Dying of the Light, was published by Wipf and Stock imprint Resource Publications in 2022.