An Alpine Flower a Day: Māori onion

Flower a Day: Day 4, Māori onion (Bulbinella hookeri)

– about a metre high

– taken near Granity Pass Hut, Mt Owen, Kahurangi National Park

Writer's Rock

Māori Onion (Bulbinella hookeri)

I see a flattened path,

Maybe the girl. I whisper,

Are you here? I

wind through the yellow flowers

growing along some unseen

underground stream,

stems so bright, so tall

in the muted landscape.

Are they penwipers?

I laugh, I will find you,

wiping my pen as I go.

I swish through, catching

the unopened tops

with my fingers.

There is no such thing

as a destination. The hut

is full of bearded men, thin as rakes.

No girl. Someone tells me

the yellow flowers are not

penwipers, but Māori onion.

Beyond the hut is a labyrinth

of 500-million-year-old rocks.

I will make my way through them.

Maybe the girl will be there,

at the top, singing.

If you're interested in the inspiration behind this month-long series of 'An Alpine Flower A Day' about NZ alpine flowers and poems, you can find more in my first post: An Alpine Flower A Day Enjoy!