Over the past few weeks I’ve been sharing some of the wonderful lines and stanzas from Leaving the Red Zone — the poetry anthology (edited by James Norcliffe and Joanna Preston, and published by Clerestory Press) that commemorates the fifth anniversary of the February 22, 2011, earthquake.

Today, I share the second of a two-part focus on the anthology’s “Aftermath” section — which is also the final section of the anthology and of this post series.

—

from “Aftermath”

“…
We are already on the other side of a year of crustal schisms
pop ups
……….prop ups
…………………restarts
………………………..re the de builds …”

~ Robynanne Milford, “Meet Me   after Julia Morrison“)
.

“…
Gulls swim in the basement
of a half demolished building.
Sparrows perch on a tangle
of reinforcing steel which just
from a crumbling pillar.
On vacant lots weeds hold dominion …”

~Catherine Fitchett “Vacant”
.

“…
Repair the fabric of our city,” CERA says
“restore the heart of it.”
I feel too fraught to be a part of it
there’s too much warping in my weave
My world packed in a moving van,
I leave”

~ Annette Chapman, “Possibilities of the Now”
.

“picking over the bones of our life
packing the precious and practical
cartons crouch to go
…
tomorrow the truck
will swallow up
these fragments and comforts

another day the bulldozer
will erase all traces
of a life together
down the lane.”

~ Don Rowlands, “Leaving the Red Zone”
.

“This poem is like a city. It is full of words.
Doing words. And Being words. And words
that compare one thing to another thing
and words that hold everything together…”

~ Fiona Farrell, “The Poem That is Like A City”
.

And just has the poem can be like a city, a book can be like us, telling our story with its myriad voices. I hope that I have given you enough of a taster these past few weeks for you to want to open the book and traverse the full story.