Poem 99

From 1982 – the reverse of wanderlust … when you crave continuity but restlessness and change is all around you …

( the chicken coops with their stilt legs in the sea come from a photo in the Hokitika Museum showing coastal erosion … )

Lingerlust

The sky hangs heavy with rain
tonight if the storm comes
the waves will eat out under the old hen coops
and they will go walking
spindly legs in the surf
they will forget to wander back in the morning
and the back yard will be sea

then there will be nothing to stop the house
already its doors bang
once for yes twice for no
talking over my head to someone below
everything is saddling up
pulling up roots of salt in the old garden

something has been pretending all this time
like the smooth black island in the ocean
that is the sleeping whale
it rises now and shakes itself
anxious to be away

the wind speaks of other places
it's only me who wants to stay