Bio

Maris O'Rourke, a New Zealander, has been writing poetry for four years. She has published in Takahē, Poetry New Zealand, Bravado, Shot Glass Journal (USA), International Literary Quarterly (UK) and Side Stream. She was the inaugural featured poet in the NZPS's (New Zealand Poetry Society) 'a fine line'. In 2010 she was runner-up in the Auckland NZSA (New Zealand Society of Authors) Sonnet competition and awarded an NZSA mentorship. In 2011 she was Second in the Robert Burns Poetry Competition; awarded Highly Commended in the Caselberg Trust International Poetry Prize; and First place in the South Island Writers Association (SIWA) National Competition.

lay
the
baby to
my trembling body
cut the slippery cord but
not the ties that bind our future lives

put
the
baby to
my milk-full breast
under his silent sucking gaze
we will form the pattern of our days