“…you’ve kept going with the books even with all the quake and post quake stress. You should be really proud of yourself! :)”

—

Wen’s comment came via webmail—and it is certainly true that not just the 18 months of awful, from September 2010 through to December 2011, but also the aftermath of the earthquakes that shattered Christchurch has been stressful in the extreme. Because, dear readers, neither shattered physical environments, nor emotional ones, whether for individuals, families, or communities, can be put right ‘just like that.’ It all takes time, and when you’re in it, the experience  becomes like those mills that grind both exceedingly slowly as well as exceedingly small.

So yes, keeping going at all on the books has felt  like a labour of Sisyphus—and I feel that everyone in Christchurch who has “kept going” should be proud. Really though, I think I said it best in the conclusion to one of my earthquake poems:

This Will be Us

“…and only fleetingly imagine
the reality that these people —
flickers on a newsreel,
stills in a frame —
experienced, lived through,
endured.”