Valerie Fox

Poet

    Poetry

  • "The Burial Cave." Te Ao Hou 49 (1964): 14.
  • A poem warning of the consequences of breaking the laws of tapu.
  • "Taku Kainga." Te Ao Hou 49 (1964). 14.
  • A recollection of leaving the childhood home and the awareness by the speaker that her youthfulness made it seem like "a great adventure" while her older siblings were "old enough to learn shame / and know the meaning / or probing eyes".
  • "Going Back." Te Ao Hou 59 (1967): 41.
  • The old woman’s insatiable longing to go back to her people before "they’re all gone" is not understood by the narrator who sees only the changes, the "friendless faces" and the "mud and gorse".
  • "Passing." Te Ao Hou 66 (1969): 23.
  • The speaker recalls the early morning departure of a man who slowly and sadly wends his way along the beach towards the tree. A portrayal of the journey of the deceased person travelling north to the pohutakawa trees at Cape Reinga on its journey back to Hawaiki.