Tuesday Poem: "Allow Me To Say …"

Allow me to say …

Allow me to say

that in the midst

of earthshaking, plus

associated mud

and dust both inside

and out, as well

as queueing

for the portaloo —

I would like the lid

to stay on my electric

kettle so that boiling

water to safe drinking

level becomes less

of an exercise

in burned fingertips

and frustration …

This kettle, I feel,

is no good: one day

when the world

becomes safer,

I shall buy myself

a better kettle.

For now though,

I am grateful:

the god of small things

is reminding me

that I am alive.

.

© Helen Lowe, 2011

.

Note: I wish to acknowledge the allusion to Anna Livesey's poem, "Next Time" (the moonmen, Victoria University Press, 2010) in stanza 2.

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On June 14, I talked about my wariness of the "diary entry" poem in the context of the Canterbury earthquake—and in fact any of the major "situations" we all face at some time or other in our lives, whether natural or human-made disasters, or the loss of those we are close, too. Those remarks still hold …

… Yet sometimes there is a place for the diary-entry poem and this is unashamedly one of those days and those poems—although I hope you will agree that the leaven of humour lifts "Allow me to say …" above the straightout 'diary entry.' I have, however, listed it under "Earthquake Reports" as well as "Poetry", because in its own way, I feel that it is a report from the "suburban rear lines."

Enjoy! And yes, feedback welcome.

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