White Feathers

About

The five poems are from the 1991 peace anthology White Feathers. (pub. Hazard Press, 1991.)

Peace and in particular the rejection of futile violence and war has always been a concern of mine, reflected in several works, particularly the electronic work In Memoriam Rainbow Warrior, Pacific Hockets for orchestra, and Said the Neighbours for tenor, choir, strings and percussion in which I set another poem by Elsie Locke from this wonderful anthology. The poems selected here follow directly the theme of the anthology, representing stages of response to this pointless violence: shock, outrage, understanding and awareness, and finally reconciliation, understanding, harmony. Papa-tu-a-nuku ends in gentle celebration, but a celebration made all the more telling by the prior reflections.