Be CIND
As Summer waned and Autumn loos'd,
lightly tethered leaves,
A hemis-fear away families blanched,
and all-together grieved.
Bands of whistling, darkening clouds,
chimed in with bell-vire' towers,
And squalled upon our sacred shores,
their deadly Covid showers.
Harken! Forced to act and act with force,
stepped-up our stately queen,
Her A-team laboured as surgeons might,
in a patient's dream.
Locked-down, not out, our nation true arose,
to smote the viral foe,
E-sent workers, checkpoint heroes, all of us,
battled toe-to-toe.
'Tihei mauri ora!' encored high-up ancient folk,
a'bow in Matariki,
'Toia mai! Toia mai!' rejoined our captain queen,
with wiri feathered tiki.
O! As Maui had once pulled and fought,
to bare for us our lands,
So a'same our nation pulling taut was hauled,
by Jacinda Ardern's calloused hands.
Many lives were saved and others cared a'not,
as our strategy evolved,
Vigilance with contact tracing, upped in rank,
For those in health were gold.
As wild winds calmed, light flittered, coloured,
with pi-waka amongst our forest trees,
Thoughts turned to thank our selfless leader,
who'd brought us off our knees.
NZ paused a'mome' upon creative gesture,
of pure variant-word idea,
To capture 'cind' [kind] as in her name we see,
O! Our gift to her was clear.
'Be kind', her call, as 'cind' we immortalise it,
by quill and worded power,
As 'cind', our hearts rejoice, her legacy to us,
in our nations darkest hour.
#cindappreciationPM
Artwork: Samantha Knightbridge
www.misshauora.wordpress.com......
Poem: Harko Brown
chng.it...
What workplace change would you like to see most?
This coming Monday is Labour Day in New Zealand. This public holiday marks when the eight-hour workday and 48-hour workweek became law in 1899. The idea started with Samuel Parnell, a carpenter in Wellington, who in 1840 refused to work more than eight hours a day. Since skilled workers were in short supply, his employer had to agree.
As more skilled workers arrived, employers tried to change working conditions, but Parnell and others kept pushing for better rights. In 1890, Parnell led a Labour Day parade of 1,500 people to promote the eight-hour day. He passed away shortly after, and nine years later, Labour Day became an official public holiday.
Do you feel that we have reached the ideal in working environments yet? What rights are you passionate about relating to employment? Share your thoughts!
Poll: Does grocery bagging affect where you shop?
There's only a few differences between our larger chain supermarkets here in New Zealand. Having someone bag your groceries is one of them.
Does having your groceries packed for you at the checkout influence where you do your grocery shop? If so, tell us why.
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23.8% Yes
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75.5% No
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0.7% Other - I'll share below
What's your favourite recipe for gooseberry?
Love gooseberries? Share your favourite way to enjoy them. We're looking for our readers' favourite family recipes for this delicious crop. Send yours to mailbox@nzgardener.co.nz, and if we use it in the magazine, you will receive a free copy of our December 2024 issue.
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