Epicentre
I woke up dazed
some taniwha had risen
underneath my bed
straight up from
the centre of the earth
and humped like
a green horse
first time under the saddle.
Then the noise
a peremptory growl
travelling away from me
as swiftly as a train.
How unusual and strange.
I couldn’t write a poem
for every earthquake
I have lived through
they all have their little quirks
but every other one had rumbled
towards me, done its worst
shivered, rippled, shook
then galloped away.
The house and I settled
down, drew our breath
and the earth turned.
What I Found
Six buttons, by the bus stop, one was tartan
one was cracked, I threw it away, and then
I found a yellow paperclip, slightly splayed.
I saw a hairclip but I didn’t want it. Left it.
I found a balcony above the common ruck
a man who shimmered as he spoke like …
I found a girl clothed in gooseflesh teetering
on Tinakori Road. I found her a taxi, simple.
By lifting one arm. I found a torch and then
a rose garden, and the will to purloin roses.
And I found this.