Luck

Luckily
the wolf is inside
when the bird
comes to splash about
in what has become
a birdbath.

‘Peter and the Wolf’
was childhood.
A bird, a boy,
a wolf. Somewhere
from deep in the forest
the horns sounded
warning.

Just like the song,
the kookaburra sits
in the old oak tree.
Each morning begins
with its long, wild
laugh.

Jenny Bornholdt

Jenny Bornholdt has published 12 books of poems including two Selected Poems. Her most recent book is A Garden is a Long Time, a collaboration with photographic artist Annemarie Hopecross, published in 2023 by Te Herenga Waka University Press.

A Garden is a Long Time review on Poetry Shelf