page 170

Mr Maui Loses the Plot

I've forgotten the plot: birth, marriage, deaths,
a change of country, house, or sheets,
surely that can't be all? The narrative
has quietly gone to pot
like me.

             Abandoned
I settle back to watch the tides
startle with their flash and suck.
Children cry 'Surprise! Surprise!'
and build a house out of light and mud.
I live like a hound growing fat on crumbs.
I hide under the table whenever the plot's discussed.