Our Host is About Her Own Business

Lee Fraser

tectonic throat-clear
she’s sorry she knocked your stuff over
but not her fault, she was here first

cliff faces pick their teeth
staccato cartography

river with bed braids, arms at sides
eventually rolls over

mountains exfoliate
in plain sight

seas nibble coastline, tinkering
dribbling it back

briny blankets come untucked 
or drift askew

and hot mama underneath
melts on and on
keeps us on our toes

The Science

Geological processes produce perpetual change, and inspire this personification poem: Earthquakes, erosion, lateral river migration, sediment transport, coastline change (by wave erosion and coastal deposition), sea level change, and endless activity in the mantle and crust. The beginning and end of the poem note our human smallness compared to the physical and chronological scale of it all, as well as our inability to avoid the impacts of geological change.

The Poet

Lee Fraser grew up in Aotearoa New Zealand, was a linguist in Papua New Guinea and Kenya in her 20s, collided with domesticity in Aotearoa during her 30s, and later rediscovered health through poetry. In 2024 she had 22 pieces accepted for publication internationally and came fourth in the NZ poetry slam. Lee writes to excavate human quirks, vices and dignity. She is also fascinated with the ordinary as meaningful and/or spectacular. Her work covers hilarity, heartbreak, the humdrum, and hesitant hope. She also loves music, plants and dietary requirements victories. www.leefraserpoetry.com; Instagram @leefraserpoetry.

Next poem: Photosynthesis by Laura Bowater