Guest Poem by Cindy Botha

Cindy Botha lives in New Zealand where she began writing late in life. Her poems appear in magazines and anthologies in NZ, Australia, the UK and USA.

on good days

I believe a thousand
California condors
will fly headlong
into the future
not looking back

believe the colours
of a paint-box sky
aren’t pollution
but light scattering
the way it’s meant to

on good days I think
we’re doing our best
or at least our bit ‒
not running
with scissors

think that ice caps
could grow back
if we manage things
a bit better
and keep a cool head

on good days
I trust in clean cobalt
and sustainable grain
in hybrid cars
and healthy hives

imagine whale-song
is booming
that bats can make it
out of here alive
and forests will get old

think the hawk drops
then snags a pebble
and a brown bear sleds
the snow drift
for joy

that a blackbird
pecks and pecks
at the halved mango
to paint his beak
in dazzle