Weather Report
Never mind that Waiouru's
frozen, iced and brutal,
or that Kaitaia, which is in the tropics anyway,
frozen, iced and brutal,
or that Kaitaia, which is in the tropics anyway,
is constantly fine
and has no excuse to be otherwise;
or that Auckland rains flood in all seasons,
or that Wellington's swept off the map
with gusts and winds whose rate of knots
exceed the speed of light,
or the Garden City's smog smudges
homes, faces, windscreens
with a grey and pernicious smuttiness...
Always, always, in the Deep South
according to the (fair)-weathermen and -women
ensconced behind the Bombay Wall of Hills,
it’s:
‘Snow,’or that Auckland rains flood in all seasons,
or that Wellington's swept off the map
with gusts and winds whose rate of knots
exceed the speed of light,
or the Garden City's smog smudges
homes, faces, windscreens
with a grey and pernicious smuttiness...
Always, always, in the Deep South
according to the (fair)-weathermen and -women
ensconced behind the Bombay Wall of Hills,
it’s:
preferably down to 200 metres.
The Luddite Dreams
The Internet is down – for good.
Bookshops come back into their own;
Google has gone; librarians once again
Are the source of all knowledge.
Everything you wanted to know in a hurry
You have to wait for, just as you did in the past.
You can’t order online, or pay online,
You have to communicate face to face,
With real faces, real voices, and discover
They are, for the most part, worth communicating with.
No more poker games online, no more
Pornography available at the touch of a key.
Life slows down, immeasurably, and
Millions of people find employment again.
