The Best of ‘… on Anything Really’ 2011: The Tuesday Poem—“Indifferent Planet”
Indifferent Planet
Taking out the rubbish
in the dark pre-dawn,
the stars still crisp
in the frost-black
overhead, the plastic wheels
on the bins jolting
over the gullies and ridges
of the old creek bed
that was once our driveway
before — before February 22nd
when the earth god stretched
again in his sleep, or was it Loki,
writhing to avoid the serpents’ venom,
the earth also condemned
to writhe with him, while we,
like ninepins, were knocked about —
most to pick ourselves up again,
dust off, dig out,
but one hundred and eighty one
not so fortunate, fallen witness
to the random acts of violence
of an indifferent planet.
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© Helen Lowe, 2011
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This poem is dedicated to the memory of the 181 people who died in Christchurch’s February 22nd earthquake.
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This is also an earthquake poem—you can find the sequence to date under Categories: Earthquake Poems in the right hand sidebar.
Thanks for sharing Helen. Very touching. Congrats to you and your new book, I am looking forward to it. I hope a happier year to you in 2012.
Thank you, Steve. I think everyone here in Christchurch is keeping their fingers crossed for that!
Beautiful words. I think you’ve nailed it by calling the planet indifferent. It’s easy to blame “mother nature” but in the end, the planet no more cares about what all this shaking is doing to human beings than a cat cares about whether it disturbs the fleas when it has a good scratch. I don’t mean that we don’t matter, just that really, the earthquakes have to do with the earth doing what it must, not with any unseen forces ganging up on the people of Christchurch. I guess it’s easier to see things differently, it gives you someone to blame, but in the end, there isn’t any blame. It just is.
Wen, I think you have it exactly.
Beautiful…
Thanks, Mary—I didn’t know when is selected this poem as a ‘best of …’ feature that it would prove so apposite in light of events!
Your poetry is always apposite. And apropos. And generally appreciated. 😉 I just hope it doesn’t have to fulfill itself literally all the time!!!
Mary, may I second, third and fourth that, particularly in respect of earthquakes and other natural or human-induced disasters.