David Howard is a major New Zealand poet. He sent us his Collected Poems 1980–2000 (Steele Roberts Ltd.) to be considered for the Dark Poetry Project. Here are two fine poems from that collection:

Charm

I’ll ride your smile
into the night. Here,

take the nails
from my index fingers
for security: I’ll come

back. Carefully
adjust your kiss
until it slips

under this collar
bone. Open

my body: pick
the rib that carries
the curve of your breast–

set
that bone between
an oak and an elm

as a cradle
for our child.

Inter Alia

1.
Winded, this tree
fell: you said
‘resting’

and reached
through its rings to
me, breathing

lightly.

2.
You reached
through the hole in the apple
where the worm turned

to me.

3.
Now the wind shakes us until we
slip off the edge of our dream.
Fugitives, we cower

under the wing of the screech-owl
who nested in the fallen tree,
who chewed on the knowledgeable worm.