Last year, Rangi Faith, then head boy at Tetmuka High School, won for the second year in succession the school's literary prize. Below are three of his poems. The first, ‘To a Mountain’ was published by the Timaru Herald.

To a Mountain O ageless one, My heart beats to see you rise From the enveloping green of a valley deep, Enshrouded, entangled in mist and bush, And scarred by wind and rain and age Still standing Still. O endless one Who knows no pain, No cares, no anguish, no beating heart, But only a rain that beats and scars And only a sun that heats and marrs Your beauty. O ageless one, secure is your world Of changing moods, Where the swift breeze caresses with fingers so cold, Where the sky eagle haunts the towering crag, Where the wild beasts roam, free and fleet, And the cascade falls like a handful of gems To your feet. O careless one Who laughs on Man and Time, Laugh not Your time will come, Your heart will beat, Your granite tears come rolling down, And slowly, slowly wear away The splendour I have seen today.

Cat Patient, sphinx-like It waits: Muscle-tense, tail slack, Split eyes fixed in stare, Ears pointed stiff, Body long, tapering, smooth Like stone— Hewn with cunning hand. Hark! A flutter of sound In still air. Feline eyes mirror the bird As it hops. Stops, Listens—small head on side, Tail lively with fanned colour Like some exotic dance, movement filled: Eyes keen, It stoops, pecks, stands again— Listening— Insect struggling, weakening In tenacious beak, Then gone—gracefully executed In deep silence, Save leaves rustling, falling, The sphinx too Is silent— Like mossy stone in grass, But tense—the moment is near: Cramped body eases, slightly. Claws unsheath, — supple curves, Then lightning fast One strong long bound It stikes swift; A blur of ebony And all is over. The law is still strong Even here In the steel world.

Reflections on Rain Soggy wool, parted in the middle Swept cleanly down the sides. Muddy under the belly, Hanging like a fringe over the face and eyes; The weight is felt— One quick violent movement of the body and head And the droplets shower off In a fine spray; Then the teeth plunge again into the fodder