Thank you to those who took part in the competition – Wendy, Gail and Vicky. I loved the use you made of my lines!
And it was great to see people engaging with the form – the only way a new form will ever gain traction is if people use it, so students, you can expect to see e whetu cropping up in your future writing exercises. One thing that a couple of people queried – yes, the cross rhyme has to happen from every line – end of line 1 into line 2, end of line 2 into line 3, end of line 3 into line 4, end of line 4 into line 5, end of line 5 into line 6, and the end of line 6 into line 7.
E Whetu – Take a line by another poet
a cautionary taleAnother poet’s decline into garrulity –
it’s a true pity. Who’ll ever now bother
to dust off their covers, crack open the spine
breathe life, line by line, into someone’s words
that once sang like birds in exotic cages?
Take a careful look at the wages of hope:
a plaited rope, fraying against stone walls.
Ahem. That took a dark turn! I think we can all agree that Gail, Wendy and Vicky did a far, far better job than I did just then. (Although it’s fun to give yourself permission to write doggerel from time to time. And if I can’t do it here, where can I do it?) As a result, I’m declaring all three winners. Hooray!
A Dark Feathered Art 
Kia ora, Joanna. Congratulations on your nomination! I enjoyed reading the e whetu poems. As short forms go, I think it’s great (but tricky, yes). You would have had an extra entry but we had a 3-day power outage because of the storm, which meant no internet. It’s good, though – now I have more time to improve my attempt. Best of luck for you and ‘tumble’. Jac