Otari - Poems and Prose

The book is a collection of real and imagined encounters in Otari-Wilton's Bush, a 100-hectare forest reserve and native botanic garden, in Wellington. The first part focuses on the bush reserve: a hermit protects the forest, an abandoned car is found in dense bush, a patupaiarehe (a forest fairy) suggests a rendezvous, an account of the discovery of digitalis takes the reader to Birmingham in 1785, a cancelled bush walk leads to a list of common and dangerous fungi. The second part is set on the writer's quarter-acre. It has poems about Wrightson's back lawn, her lawn mower, a visit from a real estate agent, a celebration of the importance of wood and a spooky story about 'nature' out of control. The book has two poems, 'Invitation' and 'Earth Mother' translated into te reo, notes and a five page glossary of Maori words.