The Tuesday Poem: Castle Rock
Castle Rock
Rotating in mid-air,
suspended between blue above,
bleached tussock below,
face to face with the ragged crag
of Castle Rock, sun flashes
off her watch, dazzling
as the first time they met
in the Roxborough fish and chip
shop, high above the Clutha River:
his presence, blazing in,
was like the sun rising,
spilling over energy, snaring her
with his eagerness for living –
dazzled then too, but now
her eyes clear, take in hill, sky,
rock, as someone shouts – she kicks
hard into the face, finds purchase
as the rope plays out.
.
© Helen Lowe
.
~ first published, The Christchurch Press, July 18, 2007;
~ re-published, Crest to Crest: Impressions of Canterbury Prose & Poetry, Ed. Karen Zelas, Wily Publications, 2009
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With NZ’s National Poetry Day being celebrated recently on 28 August, I thought it appropriate to feature a poem grounded in the landscape of New Zealand. The marking of the 5th anniversary of the beginning of the Canterbury earthquakes of 2010-2011, on 4 September, makes it particularly appropriate that the landscape feature central to the poem is Christchurch’s Castle Rock, although I also note the connection to Central Otago’s Roxborough and the “fish and chip
shop, high above the Clutha River…”
As I observed in another post in 2011:
“Part of the face of Castle Rock was shaved away during Christchurch’s 7.1 earthquake of 4 September 2010. Although I understand intellectually that change is part of life, emotionally I feel the loss of landmarks such as this—because both as Port Hills’ natural feature and a favourite haunt for rock climbers, Castle Rock has been an integral part of our cityscape since its founding. And a sense of place, I believe, is part of what gives us our sense of belonging and a basis for cultural identity.”
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To read the featured poem on the Tuesday Poem Hub and other great poems from fellow Tuesday poets from around the world, click here.
oh helen i have been reading your earthquake blog (can’t leave a comment for some reason) but it is almost unbearably moving – particularly as you are so stoic – and as for the repairs one can only hope!!!
Hi Jennifer,
There is a time cut-off for commenting on blog posts and some of the ‘reports’ are almost 5 years old now. But you should be able to comment on the latest one, which only posted on 4 September–but let me know if you can’t & I’ll check for glitches.