NaPoMo NZ Days 16 and 17 - question and answer

[kolemath]

Oh Where, Oh Where has Mercedes Gone?

New Zealand must have disappeared,
for nowhere in sight is its premiere poet!
Did the sea swallow up the jagged land?
Did the Maori finally rebel?
Did the Kiwis abandon English
for an Austronesian tongue?
Where will I find inspiration for the next poem?
From myself?
Impossible!



Mercedes is Gone

Today she packed up her home,
--a house-sized box, I presume--
moved it a few miles along the coast,
--by a flock of helicopters, I presume--
heading towards the equator, and unpacked it again,
--a lot of spare cardboard, I presume--
The changes-of-addresses, notifications, forwarding,
new services that aren't turned on,
new neighbours, new small kindnesses, new neighbourhood
--the rebellious "U" invades Kiwi spelling conventions,
or was it stabbed dead in the US?
Now my poem wanders, like Mercedes.
She will be home soon,
I presume.