Hi everyone
Over the next little while I’ll be showcasing some fine New Zealand poetry and photography from Andrew Norton.
Andrew is a poet and photographer and works as the denominational leader (moderator) for the Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand. Andrew also is an executive coach and Wilderness Retreats facilitator.
See www.executivewildernessretreats.com
Andrew is married to Sue with four adult children.
His publications include:
Finding Cadence 2010 @blurb.com – Collected poems (it’s a great coffee table book – you can view it at and purchase a copy from the link above).
Co Author Elizabeth Smythe and Andrew Norton Thinking as Leadership / Leadership as thinking, Leadership Journal Sage Publications February 2007 Co Author Elizabeth Smythe and Andrew Norton Leadership: Wisdom in Action, Indo – Pacific Journal of Phenomenology, May 2011
Here’s the first poem from the pen of Andrew Norton. I hope you enjoy it!
Arriving
At the end of the road
a dirt track zig zags up the mountain
into the clouds of unknowing.
To be here you must leave there
(wherever “there” is),
defying the gravity of you own importance,
the unfaithful way this busy world offers itself to you
and the blindness of a life without a horizon.
As reception fades to one intermittent bar,
contact with the outside world is all but
lost
leaving you
alone
in this wide sky
to a wider conversation
worthy of the landscape of your soul.
Shy shadows come out from their corners,
ears hear a silence splinter granite rocks;
the lies and excuses you’ve told yourself,
and eyes are renewed by a soft gaze
as outlines become clear.
In this place,
words are surrendered to the wind,
redundant
to the arriving of your breath.
Copyright: Andrew Norton 2016
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