Poem: "Centennial" by Denis Glover

In the year of centennial splendours

There were fireworks and decorated cars

And pungas drooping from the verandahs

     But no one remembered our failures. 

The politicians like bubbles from a marsh

Rose to the platform, hanging in every place

Their comfortable platitudes like plush

     Without one word of our failures. 

     -- Denis Glover

If you want to see a selection of pictures from Wellington's celebration of New Zealand's Centenary,  Centennial Coffee House in Lyall Bay is the place to go for a burst of nostalgia and local history.  

Lyall Bay, facing south into the Cook Strait, and located beside the Wellington Airport was quite the fairground at the time of the Centenary. 

http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/culture/centennial/centennial-exhibition

About the poet:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denis_Glover

HAVE A LOVELY FUN, RELAXING BOXING DAY WITH YOUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY WITH NO "FAILURES" WHATSOEVER.