The Wednesday Poem: Thx 4 the memories by Paul Millar
A poem by Christchurch scholar Paul Millar.
Thx for the memories
for the people of the Avon Loop
At first we didn’t see we were sinking,
or that over our heads ice was hardening.
How could so many be all, and all end?
By the time someone noticed, we were
on the far side of the pane separating
the dream from the drowning time.
Below the floe our unlived futures
still live untaken. Our frozen assets,
hopes of reprieve, past expectations,
are flickering patches on a silent film,
confined to a vault, on the shelf
of an archive slated for destruction.
Author’s Note: This poem was written in response to the collaborative Place in Time project, Thx for the Memories, which can be viewed at Place In Time: The Christchurch Documentary Project.
Paul Millar
Paul Millar is Professor of English at the University of Canterbury, with extensive publications in New Zealand literature, particularly the poetry of James K. Baxter. His biography of novelist and cultural commentator Bill Pearson was a finalist in the 2011 New Zealand Book Awards. Forthcoming: a collected works of J.C. Sturm.
