Poem 361

Yes, even back then they were talking about it … James has his own family now to worry about … and the summers are worse if anything …

The Sea And James

In twenty years the sea and James
will both be about a metre higher
        if all this furious activity
        does what they say it will
and melts enough ice to flood into
the Hutt valley
                             to stretch high up the sea wall
at Oriental Bay bringing long warm
tropical days to Wellington
                                                        and the taller James
           will surf sail on the taller sea
           dark against the silver
while sharks bask off Waterloo Quay
and turtles lay their eggs on the Petone
esplanade
                      and I will have operations
              on my nose for skin cancerous lesions
              and follow the shade around
with the regularity of a clock
saying
              of course in our day
              summers were really miserable