blackmail press 22

Vaughan Rapatahana

New Zealand

I am Kiwi, who lives and works in Hong Kong, although we keep our house back in Te Araroa, East Coast. My latest book series is entitled English Through Poetry (2007) and is out in the U.K., Australia, and Aotearoa.

Kia ora ano,

Vaughan Rapatahana

To Shu Li in December

I’m

missing

you,

and

it’s

merely

Wednesday.

outside

jing cha

sirens

justly

deride

this

selfish

sent

i

ment

&

the sky’s

not

taking

sides.

discipline Li

is

SHOUTING

snidely

at some

doomed

junior

suspect

- had

no

break

fast –

mind

absent,

while

the sun

preens

itself

in

smoggy

mirrors,

and won’t

make up

its

mind.

the

other

staff

room

cometscollide

in

their

own

elliptic

gambits,

brains

and

mouths

a

s

k

e

w,

&

I’m

stalled

in

a

corner

box;

the show pony,

perhaps,

as

I

yearn for

your

presence,

enough

to

fret

about

tomorrow…

Thoughts of you

thoughts of you

                         keep me warm;

there is

no

snow

                          here,

yet chill

                                          drifts

                        e

                      s   

                     i

                   r

sufficient.

that brisk

dank

damp,

inchoate

within,

a

smirk-

        smothering

demon,

&

as

those

wicked

sleet sheets

                 disagree

outside,

thoughts of you

sustain

         me

index