Gavin Bantock – I
Tohoku Images
Blitzkrieg of ocean
drives across dry ricefields like
unfrozen oiled bronze
Sea-thrust consuming
without discrimination
entire landscapes
A whole town swaying
like a cluttered armada
rooftops exploding
Occupied vehicles
turning and rolling downstream
headlights still burning
Boat on a rooftop
a fisherman watches his
house drift out to sea
The school derelict
in falling snow a father
cries for his lost boys
A volunteer wipes
clean the emperor’s portrait
pulled from the wreckage
A headman in tears
tells the TV reporter
history ends here
Vast gyms echoing
with murmurs of refugees
boxed in partitions
Clutching pet bottles
buckets and pans long lines wait
for the water trucks
A toothless farmer
tells comical stories to
his bereft neighbours
In the ruined town
even this fallen tree has
started to flower
A single pine tree
stands undefeated above
the devastation
East Japan, March 2011
Blitzkrieg of ocean
drives across dry ricefields like
unfrozen oiled bronze
Sea-thrust consuming
without discrimination
entire landscapes
A whole town swaying
like a cluttered armada
rooftops exploding
Occupied vehicles
turning and rolling downstream
headlights still burning
Boat on a rooftop
a fisherman watches his
house drift out to sea
The school derelict
in falling snow a father
cries for his lost boys
A volunteer wipes
clean the emperor’s portrait
pulled from the wreckage
A headman in tears
tells the TV reporter
history ends here
Vast gyms echoing
with murmurs of refugees
boxed in partitions
Clutching pet bottles
buckets and pans long lines wait
for the water trucks
A toothless farmer
tells comical stories to
his bereft neighbours
In the ruined town
even this fallen tree has
started to flower
A single pine tree
stands undefeated above
the devastation
