Epicentre; What I Found

 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.