2167 days ago

Be CIND

Alison Shrigley Reporter from The Bay Chronicle

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...

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More messages from your neighbours
2 days ago

Poll: Should we ditch daylight saving? 🕰️

The Team from Neighbourly.co.nz

First introduced in New Zealand in 1927 with the passing of the Summer Time Act, it's what we know as 'Daylight Saving' and this year it ends on the first Sunday in April.

While we do get to sleep in this time around, some people would like to scrap the clock tinkering for good.

And why? Some evidence suggests the time changes are bad for our health as they mess with sleep patterns leading to short-term fatigue and affecting mood. Meanwhile the hour change is frustrating for farmers and a nightmare for getting the littlies to sleep. But what's your take?

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Should we ditch daylight saving? 🕰️
  • 41.1% Yes - get rid of the clock changes
    41.1% Complete
  • 57.4% No, I enjoy it
    57.4% Complete
  • 1.5% Other - I'll share below
    1.5% Complete
1500 votes
3 days ago

Don't overthink this riddle...

The Neighboury Riddler

I have a silver sole
but no feet,
I make my living by bringing the heat.
What am I?

Do you think you know the answer? Simply 'Like' this post if you know the answer and the big reveal will be posted in the comments at 2pm on the day!

Want to stop seeing these in your newsfeed?
Head here and hover on the Following button on the top right of the page (and it will show Unfollow) and then click it. If it is giving you the option to Follow, then you've successfully unfollowed the Riddles page.

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1 day ago

Alan and Hazel Kerr share Senior New Zealander of the Year Award 2026

Jane Mander Retirement Village

Dr Alan and Hazel Kerr describe themselves as ‘just ordinary old Kiwis’, despite being named as the 2026 Ryman Healthcare Senior New Zealanders of the Year Te Mātāpuputu o te Tau.

The amazing couple prompted a standing ovation at a star-studded Auckland event which recognised their tireless efforts, with Alan travelling to and from Gaza and the West Bank 40 times to help children over 20 years, and Hazel travelling 20 times.

Click read more to find out more.

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